Championship hopes lie with Walker

  Daily Bruin File Photo Sophomore Sara
Walker, shown here in a match last season, will be the No.
2 seed in this year’s All-American tennis tournament.

By Jason Saltoun Ebin

Daily Bruin Contributor

For the UCLA women’s tennis team, their chances this year
at the All-American Tennis Championships will come down to the
performance of one player: Sara Walker.

Walker, a sophomore from El Paso, Texas, earned a preseason No.
3 ranking and a No. 2 seed at this year’s All-American. But
more importantly, she is the only Bruin guaranteed a spot in the
main draw of the tournament.

Over the weekend, freshman Lauren Fisher won two tough three-set
pre-qualifying matches before falling 6-2, 6-1 in her final
pre-qualifying match to sophomore Marine Piriou from
Northwestern.

Bruin senior Zana Zlebnik, competing in her first tournament
since injuring her achilles last January, also bowed out early in
singles, falling 6-4, 6-4 in her first pre-qualifying match to
junior Rebecca Ho from Penn State. Junior Petya Marinova won her
first pre-qualifying match but then fell to sophomore Charlotte
Vernaz of Pepperdine 6-2,6-1.

Junior Catherine Holly has so far put in the best Bruin effort,
advancing to the qualifying rounds after winning her three
pre-qualifying matches, two after losing the first set.

She realizes that not everyone on the team was so lucky.

“I was hoping that the rest of the team would end up
winning their singles matches, but we still have a chance to redeem
ourselves and do really well in doubles,” Holly said. She
plays the tournament’s No. 4 seed, sophomore Kavitha
Krishnamurthy, today at 9 a.m. at the Riviera Country Club.

In doubles competition, the teams of Holly and senior Jennifer
Donahue as well as sophomore Michelle Stiefel and freshman Chelsea
Godbey fell in their first match.

The remaining doubles teams of Marinova and Fisher, and Walker
and Zlebnik will compete today at 3 p.m. to earn a spot in the main
draw.

For Walker, the tournament is just beginning. Though she and
Zlebnik have never played an official tournament together, they
earned a pre-season No. 45 ranking.

“I am really looking forward to playing with Sara,”
Zlebnik said. “We live together and are good friends, we know
each other really well, and I definitely think that we can do well
this week.”

In last year’s tournament, Walker’s first collegiate
tournament, she immediately made her presence felt across the
country. Throughout the tournament she played 15 matches.

“I was so nervous last year, I had to pre-qualify and win
five matches just to get to the main draw,” Walker said.

“I lost in the first round but then got to the finals of
the back-draw. I was so dead tired in the finals I could barely
move. I got killed and then I remember coming home crying to my mom
and dad and thinking that college tennis was so hard.”

Head coach Stella Sampras added, “Every match last year
for Walker was a tough match. She played really hard and it showed.
This year she has a good chance to win.”

This year, if Walker continues where she left off last year, it
will be her opponents who will be left crying. With singles play
starting Thursday for her, Walker will be the player to beat. And
with her No. 3 national ranking, she cannot help but realize that
she is no longer the underdog.

But in the face of pressure Walker only smiles and says,
“I just go out there and play. I do best under
pressure.”

Tournament play is free to watch. The Riviera Country Club is
located at 1250 Capri Dr. Pacific Palisades, CA 90272. Call (310)
459-5252 for more information.