The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Freeman Memorial Championships
Granic claims singles title to lead No. 6 Women’s Tennis at Freeman Memorial
01.20.2019 | Women's Tennis
UT junior defeats Pepperdine’s Lekaj in three sets, while Markovic/Labraña earn runner-up finish in doubles.
LAS VEGAS, Nevada — No. 6 University of Texas women's tennis junior Petra Granic rallied for a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory against Pepperdine's Adriana Lekaj on Sunday afternoon to claim the singles title in the Freeman Memorial Championships at the Fertitta Tennis Complex on UNLV's campus. Granic, No. 53 in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) rankings, won her fifth consecutive match over the last three days to capture the championship in the 32-player field.
In the doubles competition, UT's sophomore duo of Bojana Markovic and Fernanda Labraña opened play Sunday in the semifinals with a 7-5 victory against Stanford's Melissa Lord and Niluka Madurawe. Markovic and Labraña trailed 5-2 in the contest before winning the next five games to close out the match. In the championship match, UNLV's Aiwen Zhu and En-Pei Huang earned the title with a 6-2 win against Markovic and Labraña.
"We had a very successful weekend," said Texas head coach Howard Joffe. "Clearly the stellar performer was Petra Granic. She joins a list of past singles champions at this event that includes five or six NCAA individual champions. (Bojana) Markovic and (Fernanda) Labraña represented us very well in the doubles final. They had an excellent semifinal win over a good pair from Stanford before falling in the final. Markovic also beat the No. 9 player in the country in singles on Friday, and Anna Turati beat the 2018 NCAA singles runner-up (Ashley Lahey of Pepperdine) on Saturday."
"Everyone chipped in and we had some good doubles play in general," Joffe continued. "The team is very well set and excited for our ITA Kick-off Weekend in Austin."
The Longhorns picked up a pair of wins in added singles matches on Sunday. No. 49-ranked junior Anna Turati recorded an impressive 6-3, 6-1 victory against No. 11 Elysia Bolton (UCLA). Senior Katie Poluta rallied for a 4-6, 6-0, 1-0 (10-3) win against UNLV's Anna Bogoslavets.
In added doubles contests, Turati and Poluta registered a 6-1 victory against Florida's Anastasia Kharitonova and Marlee Zein. Granic also paired with freshman Tijana Spasojevic to defeat Ashley Lahey and Adrijana Lekaj of Pepperdine by a 7-6 (3) score.
The prestigious tournament featured players from six of the top 11 teams in the most recent ITA national rankings, including No. 1 Stanford, No. 3 North Carolina, No. 6 Texas, No. 7 Pepperdine, No. 8 UCLA and No. 11 Florida along with host UNLV.
Texas opens its 2019 dual-match season when it hosts Middle Tennessee State on Saturday, Jan. 26 as part of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend. First serve is set for 11 a.m. CT at the Texas Tennis Center. The Longhorns will then face either Baylor or Wichita State on Sunday, Jan. 27 (10 a.m. CT or 1 p.m. CT).
Texas Results at the Freeman Memorial Championships – Sunday, Jan. 20
Singles Final
#53 Petra Granic def. Adriana Lekaj (Pepperdine), 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
Doubles Semifinals
Markovic/Labraña def. Lord/Madurawe (Stanford), 7-5
Doubles Final
Zhu/Huang (UNLV) def. Markovic/Labraña, 6-2
Added Singles Matches
Katie Poluta def. Anna Bogoslavets (UNLV), 4-6, 6-0, 1-0 (10-3)
#49 Anna Turati def. #11 Elysia Bolton (UCLA), 6-3, 6-1
Caroline Lampi (Stanford) def. #63 Tijana Spasojevic, 6-2, 6-4
Added Doubles Matches
Turati/Poluta def. Kharitonova/Zein (Florida), 6-1
Granic/Spasojevic def. Lahey/Lekaj (Pepperdine), 7-6 (3)
Players Mentioned
