PROFILES: Marinova, Walker understand the power of two

CLAIRE ZUGMEYER/Daily Bruin Senior team captain Petya
Marinova (left) and junior All-American Sara
Walker are solidified and poised to lead the Bruins
against Southern University this Friday.

By Eric Perez
Daily Bruin Contributor
[email protected]

April 20. The No. 5 UCLA women’s tennis team was taking on
Cal on a sunny afternoon at the Los Angeles Tennis Center.

It was Senior Day, the final home game for the UCLA seniors. At
No. 1 doubles, senior Petya Marinova and junior Sara Walker were
down to Raquel Kops-Jones and Jody Scheldt 5-0. Marinova
couldn’t believe what was happening, thoughts of possibly
losing her final college doubles match were running through her
head.

Three points away from a defeat and losing the doubles point for
the team, Walker and Marinova decided to bear down and pull out a
small miracle.

“We just wanted to win that match so badly, we just
resolved to keep going and to just grind it out and hope for the
best,” Walker said.

Walker and Marinova scrapped it out, winning three of the next
four games. Then at 5-7 they fought off three match points, before
finally prevailing 9-7 to seal the doubles’ point victory for
the Bruins.

“At one point I really didn’t think we would come
back,” Marinova said. “It was just kind of like a
Cinderella story. You’re down 5-0, but when we started coming
back I was sure we could come back. I would say that was one of the
best and most emotional days I have ever had at UCLA.”

You could say it’s been a Cinderella story for Marinova in
her four years at UCLA. When she first came to UCLA, her problems
communicating with the coaches and players impeded her development
as a player. And she would even loathe going to practice at
times.

But with each passing year, she matured and the adversity she
and her teammates have faced turned into a positive.

“Petya has really stepped up in the past two years and has
really taken on a leadership role; she’s probably the one who
has grown up and improved the most,” UCLA head coach Stella
Sampras said. “She is just now so much more confident and
self-assured. So much that I go to her to find out how the players
are doing and some of the players go to her for support.”

Whereas Sara Walker, an All-American and Pac-10 champion in both
singles and doubles, has lived up to her billing as a top-flight
recruit three years ago.

“Sara’s our rock,” Sampras said. “What
you see is what you get with her, and she is so down to earth that
I’ve had coaches come up to me and compliment me on what a
great individual and competitor Sara is, and there is just no ego
with Sara.”

Before a serve, Marinova typically prefers to stand at the net
watching her opponents carefully, evaluating them, whereas Walker
prefers to stand back at the baseline ready and waiting to deliver
a crushing return. Standing behind the same side of the net are the
UCLA women’s tennis team’s No. 1 doubles team and No. 4
in the nation.

“When they’re hot, I think they’re capable of
winning the national championship, as long as they’re both
very feisty and clicking,” said UCLA assistant coach Bill
Zaima, who added that their differences as players only help
produce better doubles results as a whole.

On and off the tennis court Marinova is a fiery, emotional,
outspoken leader, while Walker is cool, calm and soft-spoken.

“I’m the one that’s there to keep everything
stable, I give us stability,” Walker said. “If Petya
gets down on herself I bring her back up, and if I get down on
myself, then she brings me back. We both work as a team, and we
both know that as long as we’re competing and working hard we
know we can win.”

As far as their tennis games go they are different inasmuch as
they complement each other. Walker, being a strong baseline player
with a powerful serve, likes the singles game where dictating from
the back of the baseline is much more congenial. Marinova, who
places a high value on relationships and team camaraderie, relishes
the opportunity of the collective effort that doubles offers.

“I love doubles,” Marinova said. “When I play
doubles, there is always someone there to begin with, and I like
team sports better, even though I play tennis.”

In many ways, Walker and Marinova represent much of what UCLA
women’s tennis squad has been about this year. This team has
come a long way, especially since the trials of last year in which
they were ranked as high as No. 6 before suffering injuries to
then-seniors Zana Zlebnik and Christina Popescu and Walker
herself.

The rash of bad luck got so bad at one point, the Bruins lost 10
straight dual-matches before Walker returned to the lineup and
helped UCLA win two matches. But then a shower door severely
bruised Walker’s foot, which caused her to miss more matches
and more losses came as a result for the Bruins, with their ranking
dipping as low as No. 38.

The Bruins finished well, however, with a strong showing at the
Pac-10 championships, eventually qualifying to the 2001 NCAA
championships. The way Marinova sees it, what did not kill them
only made them stronger.

“It would have been easy to give up when we were losing,
and I think just sticking together made us stronger and made us
better friends,” Marinova said. “Especially for
everyone who experienced that last year, which is most of us, we
really don’t want to experience that again, so it makes us
work that much harder.”

Now the Bruins are in a better position, poised to make a
serious run at the NCAA title. But, the conclusion of the NCAA
championships will mean their time as doubles partners has come to
a close.

“Petya’s been an amazing friend, and I am going to
miss her when she graduates,” Walker said.