After the first day of action in the Pac-10 women’s singles tournament and invitational, the Cardinal is in good position to bring home the title. Stanford has four players in the quarterfinals of the singles tournament and one representative in the quarterfinals of the invitational.
The Pac-10 Tournament is a singles and doubles competition that forces participants to play double matches for three days in an exhausting weekend that pits many of the best players in the country against each other and allows for very little rest.
“That is one of my least favorite things to do,” said main draw entrant Nicole Gibbs. “I hate playing back-to-back singles matches. It’s just such a grind. I think everyone did a really good job just plugging through.”
Stanford had three players enter the Pac-10 Women’s Invitational—sophomore Natalie Dillon and freshmen Amelia Herring and Elizabeth Ecker. Herring defeated Stephany Chang of California 6-4, 7-6(6) in the first round before losing 6-3, 6-0 to second-seeded Kim Stubbe of Arizona. Ecker defeated Hayler H. Miller of USC 6-4, 6-0 in the first round before losing 6-2, 6-0 to fourth-seeded Alice Duranteau of Cal.
Dillon, however, had a first-round bye and then defeated Megan N. Lester of UCLA, 6-1, 6-3, in the second round to advance to the quarterfinals—she will face Susan McRann of Arizona at noon today.
In the main draw, Stanford entered six players with one major exception—Stanford’s best player, senior Hilary Barte, decided not to participate in this tournament to rest. Three of Stanford’s players earned a seed, with Nicole Gibbs seeded fourth, Mallory Burdette fifth and Kristie Ahn seventh. All three of these players advanced to the quarterfinals, along with unseeded Stacey Tan. Arizona’s Sarah Landsman defeated senior Carolyn McVeigh 6-2, 6-4, and Li lost to McCall Jones, 6-2, 6-1, both in the first round.
Ahn had two straight-set wins over Marina Cossou of Cal by the score of 7-5, 6-3 and Micaela Hein of Arizona State with the score 6-4, 6-2. Tan was forced to come back from a set down in her first match before advancing 2-6, 6-0, 6-4. She then upset sixth-seeded Mari Andersson, 6-1, 6-4 to book her place in the quarterfinals. Burdette fought through a tough three-setter in the first round, defeating Michelle Brycki of Arizona State 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 and then defeating Annie Goransson of Cal 6-2, 7-5.
One player that showed she has real promise later in the tournament was Gibbs, who took care of her first round opponent quickly. She defeated Cristalia Andrews of USC 6-0, 6-1, to advance early. Next, she defeated Samantha Smith of Washington, 7-6(4), 6-2.
“First player I played was solid all around, but I was keeping one more ball in the court than her or forcing the error,” Gibbs said. “I had the advantage in that match and I carried that through knowing I was going to have to play the second match.”
“My second opponent, I got down in the first set 4-2 and 5-3, so she put a lot of pressure on me and just made me hit that extra ball,” Gibbs added. “A lot of times I was not prepared to hit that extra ball and I made a lot of unforced errors in the first set, but I cleaned it up in the second set.”
In the next round, she will face McCall Jones, the player that defeated Li earlier in the day. Jones, a transfer from BYU, is UCLA’s No. 1 player but is unseeded in this tournament.
“I’ve never played her so I can’t tell for sure [how she plays], but I know that she has a serve that can occasionally break down,” Gibbs said. “I’m ready to take care of that. I generally do better on my return game so that’s a weakness I need to exploit.”
When Li was asked what advance she’d give her teammate against Jones, she expressed faith in Gibbs’ playing ability.
“I have so much confidence in Nicole,” Li said. “I would say play your game and do what you do best. You’re the better player and you’re going to overcome, so I wouldn’t be too worried.”
Half of the players in the quarterfinals wear Stanford colors. According to Li, this success in the tournament reflects the hard work and commitment put into practice every day.
“It’s amazing, but it’s also deserved,” Li said. “I don’t think most people see what goes on behind the scenes and how much work we put into it each day. Each exercise we do, each sprint. It’s always the little things that add up. For us, it’s a constant process and I think it definitely pays off when we put in that little extra effort every day.”
The Cardinal enters doubles play Friday and continues the singles draw with the possibility of an all-Stanford semifinal still intact.