The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
TCU (Big 12 Championships quarterfinals)
No. 5 Women’s Tennis Preview: Big 12 Championships
04.23.2018 | Women's Tennis
Big 12 regular season champion Longhorns host league tournament for first time since 2010.
Big 12 regular season champion Texas holds the top seed for this week's Big 12 Championships at Texas Tennis Center. The Longhorns hold a first-round bye and will open competition at the four-day event on Friday (noon CT) against the winner of Thursday's first-round match between eighth-seeded TCU and ninth-seeded West Virginia.
The 10-team women's tournament opens Thursday with the aforementioned TCU-West Virginia match plus another first-round contest pitting seventh-seeded Oklahoma against 10th-seeded Iowa State.
Should Texas advance to Saturday's semifinals, it would meet fourth-seeded Kansas or fifth-seeded Baylor at 3 p.m. CT. The finals are set for Sunday at 1 p.m. CT alongside the men's final.
2018 Big 12 Championships
Thursday, April 26-Sunday, April 29
Texas Tennis Center – Austin, Texas
Live Scoring:
North Courts: http://sidearmstats.com/texas/mtennis/xlive.htm
South Courts: http://sidearmstats.com/texas/wtennis/xlive.htm
Big 12 Championships Information Page: www.hookem.at/2018Big12Tennis
Tickets
All-Session: $15 adults/$10 youth & students
Single Session: $5
*Tickets are available for purchase via cash or credit card at Texas Tennis Center one hour prior to the first match each day.
Parking: Available in East Campus Garage adjacent to UFCU Disch-Falk Field for $5; payment is made via cash or credit card at the garage exit (Area Map).
BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIPS HISTORY
The Big 12 Championships return to Austin for the fourth time overall and for the first time since 2010. Texas has won a league-leading nine Big 12 Championship tournaments, most recently in 2013 at Oklahoma. The Longhorns lead the league with 16 finals appearances in the event's 21-year history.
Texas won the first six Big 12 tournaments (1997-2002) and captured its seventh back in 2005 at the previous home of the Horns, Penick-Allison Tennis Center. UT won its eighth tournament title in 2012 before winning its most recent crown in 2013.
A year ago, Texas met TCU in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Championships at Oklahoma and dealt the Horned Frogs a 4-3 defeat. Texas Tech eliminated Texas from the semifinals the next day by a 4-2 margin.
HORNS HOOK BIG 12 REGULAR SEASON TITLE
Texas capped the regular season last Friday with a 4-0 home win over No. 25 Baylor that locked up the Horns' first outright Big 12 Conference regular season title since 2004. UT initially locked up a share of the Big 12 regular season title on April 15 with a victory over West Virginia.
At a perfect 9-0 in the league after the Baylor win, the Longhorns claimed their ninth conference crown for themselves and completed their first unblemished league record since 2004. UT secured its first shared or outright Big 12 regular season title since 2007.
14 UP, 14 DOWN
Texas stretched its winning streak to 14 matches with its title-clinching victory over Baylor. The Longhorns most recently won 14 matches or more in 2000, when UT won 17 straight matches.
The Longhorns' 14-match winning streak dates back to Feb. 16 when Texas knocked off South Florida in its inaugural match at Texas Tennis Center. UT has not lost a match since Feb. 11 when it fell to No. 6 Ole Miss at the ITA National Team Indoor Championship.
Texas holds a staggering 47-4 record in singles matches through its 14-match winning streak. UT is 21-9 in doubles and has won 10 of 12 doubles points contested in that span (doubles matches were not played against Florida).
TEXAS CRACKS THE TOP FIVE
Texas moved up one spot to No. 5 in the April 10 release of the Oracle/ITA Division I Women's Team Rankings, and the Longhorns remained at No. 5 in the April 17 rankings release. UT holds a top-five rank for the first time since February of 2006, when Texas ranked third nationally.
Texas had moved up to a season-high No. 6 in the ITA team poll on April 3, which marked UT's first top-six national ranking since April 17, 2012 (No. 6).
On March 20, Texas made its first appearance among the top-10 of the ITA women's team rankings since 2012. UT climbed four spots from No. 12 to No. 8 nationally, which marked the Horns' first top-10 ranking since May 29, 2012, when Texas ranked tenth.
TEXAS TOPS THE BIG 12
Texas completed an unblemished 9-0 run through the Big 12 and cemented its first undefeated season in league play since 2004. UT kicked off conference play with a couple of big road wins. Texas visited No. 17 Kansas and held on for a 4-2 victory in Lawrence (March 16). The Longhorns dropped all six first sets at No. 40 Kansas State but seized control of the match and put away a 4-0 win in Manhattan (March 18).
Texas ran its winning streak to eight matches with impressive home wins over No. 49 Oklahoma and No. 12 Oklahoma State. The Longhorns blanked the Sooners, 4-0 (March 23) before defeating the Cowgirls (March 25) by the same 4-0 margin in the weekend finale.
Texas scored a convincing 4-0 win over No. 12 Florida on Easter Sunday in Orlando before resuming league play with its victories at TCU and Texas Tech. The Longhorns improved to 8-0 with their victories over Iowa State and West Virginia. Texas capped its perfect run through league play with a 4-0 win over Baylor, its first win over the Bears since 2012.
STILL THE ONE
Texas sophomore Bianca Turati held on to the top spot in last Tuesday's release of the ITA national women's singles rankings for the sixth week in a row. She initially took the top spot on Feb. 7 and became the first Longhorn to ascend to No. 1 since Kelly Pace in 1995. Turati dropped to No. 4 in the Feb. 21 rankings before moving back to No. 1 on March 6.
Bianca's twin sister Anna Turati ranks 28th in the latest ITA singles rankings while UT sophomore Petra Granic ranks 69th in singles. Granic ranks 41st alongside freshman Bojana Markovic in doubles.
GRANIC EARNS SECOND BIG 12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONOR
The Big 12 Conference announced April 10 the selection of Texas sophomore Petra Granic as the league's Women's Tennis Player of the Week. Granic earned her second selection in the last month and picked up the fifth such honor for a Longhorn this season.
Granic extended her singles winning streak to nine matches and added another victory over a ranked opponent as Texas swept TCU and No. 15 Texas Tech on the road. Granic, who hasn't dropped a match since Feb. 11, knocked off TCU's Marie Norris and Texas Tech's 84th-ranked Federici in the Longhorns' victories over the Horned Frogs and Lady Raiders.
She handed Tech's Federici her first Big 12 loss and just her third dual-match defeat of the season, which also was her first loss in six matches. Granic led all Big 12 players with her 9-0 mark in league play.
ALL THEY DO IS (T)WIN
Twin sophomores Bianca and Anna Turati have locked down the top-two spots in the Longhorns' singles lineups with consistently strong performances all season. The Turati twins have won their last 18 singles matches between them with nine straight wins for Anna and nine consecutive victories for Bianca.
Bianca Turati boasts an impressive 27-2 overall singles mark with a 15-1 record in dual matches. Her only two defeats have come at the hands of Duke's fourth-ranked Samantha Harris and 15th-ranked Arianne Hartono of Ole Miss.
Last fall, Bianca Turati toppled the nation's then-No. 1 player, Ena Shibahara of UCLA, on her way to the semifinals at the ITA National Fall Championships. Last month she defeated former national No. 1 Anastasia Rychagova of Kansas in the Horns' 4-2 win over the Jayhawks.
Bianca Turati won the ITA Texas Regional Championships last fall to earn her spot in the ITA National Fall Championships. She is 3-1 against ITA top-10 players, 8-2 against the top-25, 10-2 against top-50 players and 16-2 against ITA top-100 opponents.
Anna Turati brings a 21-2 overall singles record to the Big 12 Championships. She moved to the No. 2 slot in the singles lineup and has hardly missed a beat, going 11-1 since the move. Anna Turati has not dropped a match since Feb. 9, when she fell to Georgia's 45th-ranked Kennedy Shaffer.
Anna Turati holds an impressive 8-1 singles record against ITA top-ranked opponents with four of those wins over top-50 foes.
BIANCA TURATI TABBED BIG 12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK
The Big 12 Conference announced April 3 the selection of Bianca Turati as the league's Player of the Week. Turati helped Texas to its ninth straight victory with a straight-sets win over Florida's 19th-ranked Anna Danilina, as the Longhorns dealt the 12th-ranked Gators a 4-0 defeat at the USTA College Match Day event in Orlando.
The 2017 Big 12 Conference Freshman of the Year initially earned the honor on Jan. 30, and her twin sister Anna won the first such honor of the season on Jan. 16.
GRANIC GAINING GROUND
At 27-11 overall and 16-4 in dual matches, sophomore Petra Granic rides a wave of momentum in conference play. The 69th-ranked Croatian has won her last 12 singles decisions dating back to Feb. 16. Granic has knocked off Texas Tech's 84th-ranked Sabrina Federici, Oklahoma State's 87th-ranked Katarina Stresnakova and Ohio State's 116th-ranked Olivia Sneed along the way.
Last fall, Granic defeated Wake Forest's 28th-ranked Emma Davis on her way to the final at the Debbie Southern Fall Classic. She reached the final at the ITA Texas Regional Championships where only her top-ranked teammate Bianca Turati could keep her from winning the title.
Granic has joined freshman Bojana Markovic to form a potent doubles pair at the first slot. Granic and Markovic have won nine of their last 11 doubles decisions and rank 41st nationally.
MAKING HER MARK
Freshman Bojana Markovic has given head coach Howard Joffe another reliable presence in the middle of the lineup. The newcomer from Serbia is 16-8 overall in singles with a 10-5 mark in dual matches. Markovic has won six of her last eight singles decisions and nine of her last 11 doubles matches with Petra Granic. She recently clinched the Longhorns' 4-0 victory over No. 12 Florida on Easter Sunday.
POLUTA, PEREZ-MUR PACK POWERFUL PUNCH
Freshman Marta Perez-Mur and junior Katie Poluta have made significant contributions to the Longhorns' 11-match winning streak.
Perez-Mur has won her last eight singles decisions dating back to the Longhorns' win over South Florida (Feb. 16). The Spaniard is 6-2 at fifth singles with a 10-4 record in all dual matches. She clinched UT's 4-2 victory at No. 15 Texas Tech with her come-from-behind win over Tech's 104th-ranked Sarah Dvorak.
Poluta has not sustained a loss since Oct. 28 at the Roberta Alison Fall Classic. The South African is 4-0 in dual matches and 10-4 overall.
HORNS HEATING UP IN DOUBLES
Texas endured a challenging early-season stretch when it surrendered the doubles point in six straight matches. However, the Longhorns have taken great strides in the matches since, as Texas has claimed 11 of its last 14 doubles points contested. UT won seven of nine doubles points contested thus far in Big 12 play.
TEXAS TOPS STANFORD
Texas dropped the doubles point but rallied with a vengeance in singles on its way to a 4-2 victory over then-No. 6 Stanford at Texas Tennis Center (Feb. 17).
The Longhorns knocked off the Cardinal for the first time since 1995, when Texas defeated Stanford in the semifinals of the 1995 NCAA Championships en route to its second NCAA team title. It marked Texas' first win over a top-10 opponent since 2016, when the Horns defeated host No. 9 Duke in the second round of the NCAA Championships.
HORNS RIGHT AT HOME AT TEXAS TENNIS CENTER
The Texas women christened their new $20 million Texas Tennis Center with a 6-1 win over South Florida (Feb. 16). The Longhorns were previously scheduled to open their new home with a doubleheader on Jan. 20, but inclement weather forced a relocation of the matches indoors. The next day, Texas notched its first victory over then-No. 6 Stanford in 23 years.
UT remains unbeaten at Texas Tennis Center with additional victories over Michigan, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Iowa State, West Virginia and Baylor.
Players Mentioned
