The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
#48 TCU
No. 7 Women's Tennis preview: No. 48 TCU and No. 29 Texas Tech
04.03.2019 | Women's Tennis
Longhorn Network will televise both Friday (5 p.m. CT) and Sunday (Noon CT) matches.
No. 7 Texas (11-3, 4-0 Big 12) vs. No. 48 TCU (12-6, 4-2 Big 12)
When: Friday, April 5 (5 p.m. CT)
Where: Texas Tennis Center (Austin, Texas)
TV: Longhorn Network
No. 7 Texas (11-3, 4-0 Big 12) vs. No. 29 Texas Tech (14-5, 4-1 Big 12)
When: Sunday, April 7 (12 p.m. CT)
Where: Texas Tennis Center (Austin, Texas)
TV: Longhorn Network
Match Notes
On the Air: Both the TCU match on Friday and the Texas Tech match on Sunday will be televised live nationally by Longhorn Network. Tyler Denning (pxp) and Doug Adler (analyst) will call the action.
TCU Series: Friday's contest marks the 34th meeting between Texas and TCU. The Longhorns sport a 25-8 record against the Horned Frogs in the all-time series. Last year, UT posted a pair of wins against TCU. The Longhorns registered a 4-0 win in Fort Worth during the regular season (April 6, 2018) and added a 4-0 victory in Austin in the Big 12 Championship quarterfinals (April 27, 2018).
Texas Tech Series: Sunday's contest marks the 54th meeting between Texas and Texas Tech. The Longhorns hold a 48-5 advantage in the all-time series. Last year, UT recorded a 2-1 mark against the Red Raiders. The Longhorns registered a 4-2 win in Lubbock during the regular season (April 8, 2018) and added a 4-1 victory in Austin in the Big 12 Championship final (April 29, 2018). The Red Raiders posted a 4-1 win in the NCAA Round of 16 match in Chapel Hill, N.C. (played indoors on May 17, 2018).
Home Success at the TTC: The Longhorns are in their second year at the Texas Tennis Center. UT has registered a 19-1 mark in dual-matches at the TTC, including a 7-0 record in Big 12 regular-season dual-matches. During its inaugural season in 2018, Texas went 13-0 at home (5-0 in Big 12 play). The Longhorns are 6-1 at home this season (2-0 in Big 12 play). The lone defeat at the TTC came in a 5-2 loss to No. 20 Pepperdine on March 16.
Last Time Out: Texas recorded an impressive 5-2 victory at No. 9 Oklahoma State on Sunday afternoon (March 31). With the win, the Longhorns moved into sole possession of first place in the Big 12 Conference standings. UT grabbed an early 1-0 lead by winning the doubles point against an OSU lineup that featured a pair of nationally-ranked doubles teams. The sophomore tandem of Fernanda Labraña and Bojana Markovic rallied from 3-1 down to post a 6-4 win at third doubles. Junior twin sisters Anna and Bianca Turati clinched the doubles point with a 7-6 (8-6) victory against No. 68 Marina Guinart and Katarina Stresnakova. After OSU took a 2-1 lead with wins at fourth and fifth singles, Katie Poluta evened the match score with a 6-4, 6-2 victory at sixth singles. Bianca Turati added an impressive 6-4, 6-2 win at first singles against No. 27 Stresnakova. Petra Granic clinched the match with a dramatic 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (7-2) victory against No. 117 Bunyawi Thamchaiwat at third singles (after trailing 5-4 in the third set).
Team Rankings: Texas is No. 7 in the latest Oracle ITA Collegiate Division I team national rankings (April 2) and No. 7 in the Tennis Channel/USTA College Tennis poll (April 3). TCU is No. 48 in the ITA rankings and not ranked in the Tennis Channel/USTA poll. Texas Tech is No. 29 in the ITA rankings and not ranked in the Tennis Channel/USTA poll.
Individual Rankings: Four UT singles players and one doubles pair are featured in the latest Oracle/ITA national rankings (April 2). Junior All-American Bianca Turati (No. 17), junior Anna Turati (No. 39), junior Petra Granic (No. 52) and sophomore Bojana Markovic (No. 120) all appear in the singles rankings. The tandem of Anna Turati and Bianca Turati is No. 86 in doubles.
FORZA Bianca: Junior All-American Bianca Turati holds a 9-3 mark at first singles in dual-match action this spring, with six of the wins coming against nationally-ranked opponents. She recorded straight-set victories against No. 59 Clarissa Hand of Northwestern (6-1, 6-4) on Feb. 8, No. 66 Michaela Haet of Rice (6-0, 6-3) on Feb. 24 and No. 54 Asuka Kawai of Illinois (6-3, 6-2) on March 19. Turati earned the decisive point in UT's 4-3 home win against No. 16 Kansas (March 24) with a 6-0, 3-6, 6-1 victory against No. 23 Anastasia Rychagova. This past week, she registered a 6-1, 6-3 win against No. 19 Oleksandra Korashvil (Oklahoma) and a 6-4, 6-2 victory against No. 27 Katarina Stresnakova (Oklahoma State).
Bianca Claims Big 12 Honor: Bianca Turati claimed Big 12 Conference Women's Tennis Player of the Week honors on March 26. She posted a 3-0 mark at No. 1 singles and a 2-0 record at No. 2 doubles to lead the Longhorns to dual-match wins against No. 34 Illinois, No. 36 K-State and No. 16 Kansas.
Bianca is Back: Bianca Turati claimed the No. 1 spot in the fall preseason ITA national singles rankings (Sept. 11, 2018). The 2018 Big 12 Conference Player of the Year, she posted a 28-4 overall singles mark and ended her sophomore season at No. 3 in the final Oracle/ITA Division I singles rankings. Turati spent nearly three months atop the ITA women's singles rankings and produced a 16-2 dual-match record for the Longhorns at the No. 1 singles position in 2018. She became the first UT player to top the ITA singles rankings since Kelly Pace in 1995.
Anna on a Roll: Junior Anna Turati enters Friday's match against TCU sporting a 10-match win streak in singles play. Eight of the 10 victories during her streeak have come in straight sets. Included in the win streak are straight-set victories against No. 72 Julie Byrne of Northwestern (6-3, 7-5) on Feb. 8, No. 46 Melissa Lord of Stanford (6-3, 6-3) on Feb. 10 and No. 101 Janet Koch of Kansas (6-3, 6-4) on March 24. Turati is 11-2 at second singles in dual-match play this spring.
Steady Petra: Junior Petra Granic is 7-1 in dual-match singles action this spring (all at the No. 3 spot). She registered an impressive 6-3, 6-3 victory against No. 61 Jessica Failla of Pepperdine on March 16. Six of her seven singles wins in dual-match play have come in straight sets. Granic claimed the clinching point during UT's 5-2 win at No. 9 Oklahoma State on Sunday (March 31), recording a dramatic 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (7-2) victory against No. 117 Bunyawi Thamchaiwat at third singles (after trailing 5-4 in the third set).
Granic Earns Big 12 Honor: Petra Granic earned Big 12 Conference Women's Tennis Player of the Week honors on Jan. 22. She posted five consecutive wins en route to capturing the singles title at the prestigious Freeman Memorial Championships in Las Vegas (Jan. 18-20). During the three-day tourney, Granic dropped just one set in her five singles matches. The tourney featured players from six of the top 11 teams in the nation, including No. 1 Stanford, No. 3 North Carolina, No. 7 Pepperdine, No. 8 UCLA and No. 11 Florida in addition to host UNLV.
Senior Spark in Singles: Senior Katie Poluta is off to a strong start in singles play this spring. She is 9-1 while seeing action at both the No. 5 (3-0) and No. 6 (6-1) spots in the lineup. Poluta rallied for an impressive 1-6, 6-2, 6-2 win against No. 37 Janice Shin of Stanford at fifth singles on Feb. 10. She enters Friday's contest sporting a four-match win streak, with all four victories coming in straight sets.
Liking Labraña: Sophomore Fernanda Labraña has registered a 9-5 record in singles play this spring. She is 4-3 at the No. 4 line and 5-2 at the No. 5 spot. Her nine dual-match singles victories are tied for second on the team.
Twin Power in Doubles: Junior twin sisters Anna Turati and Bianca Turati have been solid this spring as a doubles team. The duo has posted an 8-2 mark at the No. 2 (6-1) and No. 3 (2-1) spots. The Turati twins recorded a 6-2 win against No. 78 Martina Capurro and Camila Romero of Oklahoma (March 29) and followed with a 7-6 (8-6) victory against Oklahoma State's No. 68 tandem of Marina Guinart and Katarina Stresnakova (March 31).
Big 12 Preseason Favorite: Texas is picked to win the Big 12 Conference title in a preseason vote of the league coaches, the conference office announced Jan. 8. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own teams. UT claimed the top spot in the poll, earning seven of a possible nine first-place votes and 79 points in polling for the 2019 season. Kansas received three first-place votes and 73 points to place second, while Oklahoma State was tabbed third with 63 points. Rounding out the poll in descending order were: Texas Tech, Baylor, TCU, Oklahoma, Kansas State, Iowa State and West Virginia.
2018 in Review: The Longhorns posted a 24-5 overall dual-match record during the 2018 season and advanced to the NCAA Championship Round of 16. UT earned its highest final team ITA ranking (No. 6) since 2005. The Longhorns registered a 9-0 mark in Big 12 Conference play and won their first outright Big 12 regular-season title since 2004 and first Big 12 postseason tournament title since 2013.
What Returns: Texas returns a talented and experienced lineup that includes one senior (Katie Poluta), three juniors (Petra Granic, Anna Turati and Bianca Turati) and two sophomores (Fernanda Labraña and Bojana Markovic) from last year's squad. Sophomore Marta Perez-Mur will redshirt the 2019 season after suffering a right knee injury during fall competition. The Longhorns add freshman Tijana Spasojevic (Belgrade, Serbia), who was ranked as high as No. 836 in the WTA singles rankings.
Joffe in Year Four: Head Coach Howard Joffe is in his fourth season leading the UT program. Joffe has registered a 65-26 (.714) mark in his four years at Texas and a 196-87 (.693) record in 12 seasons as a collegiate head coach. He earned 2018 Big 12 Conference and ITA Texas Region Coach of the Year honors, leading the Longhorns to the program's first outright Big 12 regular-season title since 2004 and first Big 12 tourney title since 2013.
Players Mentioned
