Popescu eliminated in second-round play

Thursday, May 28, 1998

Popescu eliminated in second-round play

TOURNAMENT: UCLA’s last hope falls to No. 1 seed in
Championships

By Jeff Kmiotek

Daily Bruin Contributor

The season has officially come to a close. Christina Popescu,
the lone Bruin to advance to the second round of the NCAA Women’s
Tennis Singles Championships at Notre Dame, was eliminated from the
tournament.

Popescu, one of the top freshmen in the nation, was knocked out
by Mirela Vladulescu of the University of Alabama -Birmingham, a
fellow freshman and the No. 1 seeded player in the 64-women
bracket. Vladulescu rolled to a straight-set 6-3, 6-4 win.

The match began with both players confident and holding serve.
Popescu notched the first service break to grab a 2-1 opening-set
lead. But Vladulescu broke right back, followed by another break by
Popescu and yet another by Vladulescu to knot the match at 3-3.

The turning point occurred when Vladulescu held serve after four
deuces in the next game to take a 4-3 lead. She then broke Popescu
and held her own serve, yielding only two points in each game to
take the first set 6-3.

In the second set, Popescu’s serve was broken three times and
Vladulescu’s twice. UAB held serve for the first time in the sixth
game and took a 4-2 lead. Popescu held from that point on, but
couldn’t overcome the deficit and succumbed 4-6.

Popescu was honored with the title of West Region Rookie of the
Year and West Region Player to Watch this past Sunday at the
Intercollegiate Tennis Association banquet. Vladulescu was named
the National Rookie of the Year. She is ranked second in the
nation, behind Georgia’s Marissa Catlin, who missed the tournament
due to a case of mono.

Popescu, a native of Montreal, Canada, is ranked No. 32 in the
United States with a record of 21-12. For a big part of the year,
she was forced to serve underhand due to an injured shoulder. The
fearless freshman was the top juniors player from Canada.

Popescu had defeated No. 35 Christine Sim of Kansas in the
opening round of the tournament, 2-6, 6-2, 6-1.

The other two Bruins in the tournament were bumped from the
bracket in the first round. No. 6 seeded Annica Cooper was upset by
Miami’s Lioudmila Skavronskaia 2-6, 6-3,6-1. She is currently
ranked 9th in the nation with a record of 33-14. No. 60 Elizabeth
Schmidt was defeated by Lule Aydin of Wake Forest 1-6, 7-5, 6-3.
She lost her first match in 18 tries when winning the first
set.

DERRICK KUDO/Daily Bruin

Christina Popescu was defeated

in the NCAA Tournament.