The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
TCU
No. 12 Women’s Tennis preview: Big 12 Championship
04.19.2023 | Women's Tennis
The Longhorns travel to Lawrence, Kan. on Friday-Sunday in search of their third-straight and 13th overall Big 12 tourney title.
No. 12 TEXAS (18-4, 8-1 Big 12)
When: Friday-Sunday, April 21-23
Where: Jayhawk Tennis Center (Lawrence, Kan.)
Live Stats: www.hookem.at/WTen-Stats
Video Stream (Sunday's title match): Big 12 Now/ESPN+ (https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/1841f431-b764-499e-af9a-dc6a7b18bd0f)
The Bracket: Texas is the No. 1 seed in the Big 12 Championship. The Longhorns have a first-round bye and begin play on Friday (3 p.m. CT) against the winner of Thursday's first-round match between No. 8 seed TCU and No. 9 seed West Virginia. Should UT advance to the semifinals on Saturday (3 or 6 p.m. CT), it would face the winner of No. 4 seed Oklahoma State and No. 5 seed Texas Tech. The championship match is set for 4 p.m. CT on Sunday and will be streamed nationally on Big 12 Now/ESPN+.
Big 12 CHAMPS: The Longhorns earned a share of the Big 12 regular-season championship with Oklahoma. Both UT and OU posted 8-1 marks in league play during the regular season. The Longhorns claimed the No. 1 seed in the Big 12 Championship by virtue of their 5-2 win over the Sooners in Austin on March 10. Texas has now captured 24 regular-season league titles, including 12 in the Big 12 Conference (1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001-co, 2002, 2004, 2007-co, 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2023-co) and 12 in the Southwest Conference (1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988-co, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995 and 1996). The last four regular-season championships have come under the direction of head coach Howard Joffe.
Big 12 and Conference Tourney Success: Texas has captured the Big 12 Tournament championship title a total of 12 times entering this year's event (1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2012, 2013, 2018, 2021 and 2022), with the last three coming under the leadership of head coach Howard Joffe. The Longhorns have amassed a total of 21 conference tournament titles in program history, as UT previously claimed nine Southwest Conference tourney crowns (1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995 and 1996).
Team Rankings: Texas is No. 12 in the latest ITA Collegiate Tennis rankings sponsored by Tennis-Point (April 18). UT earned the No. 1 spot in last year's final poll and was No. 1 in the first four polls this season (Jan. 4, Jan. 18, Jan. 25 and Feb. 1). Texas has finished each of the last five years in the Top 10 of the final ITA national polls. UT earned a No. 6 ranking in 2018, No. 9 in 2019, No. 4 in 2020 and No. 1 in both 2021 and 2022.
Individual Rankings: Three UT players are included in the current ITA national Top 125 singles rankings (April 18): Nicole Khirin (No. 92), Charlotte Chavatipon (No. 97) and Sabina Zeynalova (No. 108). Two doubles pairs are included in the current ITA national Top 90 doubles rankings (April 18): Charlotte Chavatipon and Sabina Zeynalova (No. 54) and Charlotte Chavatipon and Nicole Khirin (No. 90).
Dual-Match Success: Texas players have registered an 84-27 (.757) mark in dual-match singles play and a 36-15 (.706) record in dual-match doubles action entering postseason play. Five Longhorns have reached the 13-win mark in singles in dual matches, including Malaika Rapolu (14-4), Nicole Rivkin (14-4), Charlotte Chavatipon (14-5), Sabina Zeynalova (13-3) and Taisiya Pachkaleva (13-3). On the doubles courts, the duos of Taisiya Pachkaleva and Nicole Rivkin (12-5) and Charlotte Chavatipon and Sabina Zeynalova (10-4) have paced the Longhorns in dual-match play.
Winning the Doubles Point: Texas has won the doubles point in 17 of its first 22 dual matches this season. The Longhorns are 16-1 this year when claiming the doubles point (lost 5-2 to then-No. 22 Stanford on Feb. 25). UT is 2-3 when dropping the doubles point this season.
Khirin On The Top Line: Freshman Nicole Khirin has hit the ground running in her first season on the Forty Acres. After playing in professional/ITF events during the fall, she has registered a 10-5 dual-match singles mark this spring (all at No. 1 singles) and is No. 92 in the current ITA national singles rankings. The native of Rishon LeZion, Israel tallied a 7-2 mark at the No. 1 line in Big 12 Conference play during the regular season. Khirin won the 2021 Israeli National Singles Championship and is a member of Israel's Billie Jean King Cup team (formerly Federation Cup). She has registered one ITF single title, winning the 15K event in Heraklion, Greece in December 2021, and has captured three ITF doubles championships, including the 25K crown in Akko, Israel in May 2022. This fall during her first semester on campus, Khirin advanced to the main draw singles semifinals at the ITF 25K event in Austin at the Texas Tennis Center before falling to eventual singles champion and former UT star Peyton Stearns.
Charlotte's Web: A key piece in UT's run to the NCAA team title in each of the last two seasons, junior Charlotte Chavatipon has posted a 15-7 overall mark in singles play this year, including a 14-5 record in dual-match action, and is No. 97 in the latest ITA national singles rankings. She tallied a 6-2 mark in Big 12 Conference play in the regular season. During her sophomore campaign, Chavatipon went 21-11 overall in singles, including a 17-9 mark in dual-match play (14-4 on court 4). She was very successful on the doubles court, posting a 29-6 overall record with a 22-4 mark in dual-match action. Chavatipon claimed All-Big 12 second-team honors in both singles and doubles. As a freshman, Chavatipon posted a 28-1 overall singles mark (25-1 in dual-match play) and ended the season by winning her final 18 singles matches. She earned All-Big 12 singles second-team honors and paired with Peyton Stearns to claim All-Big 12 doubles second-team accolades.
Chavatipon Claims Big 12 Honor: Charlotte Chavatipon was named the Big 12 Conference Women's Tennis Player of the Week (Jan. 24), marking the first weekly conference honor of her career. She posted a perfect 5-0 individual record, including a 3-0 mark in singles and a 2-0 record in doubles play against North Texas (Jan. 20), SMU (Jan. 21) and Tulane (Jan. 22). She played at the No. 1 line in all three singles matches and won all three in straight sets, surrendering just 13 games in six sets played. Her singles action was highlighted by a 6-4, 6-2 victory against No. 113 Hadley Doyle of SMU. On the doubles front, Chavatipon teamed with Sabina Zeynalova at the No. 1 line and earned a 2-0 record. The duo's weekend was highlighted by a dominant 6-1 victory against SMU's No. 32-ranked tandem of Jackie Nylander and Taylor Johnson (Jan. 21).
Sabina's Success Story: A consistent force in singles as a freshman last season during UT's run to the NCAA team title, sophomore Sabina Zeynalova has posted a 14-5 overall mark in singles play this year, including a 13-3 record in dual-match action, and is No. 108 in the latest ITA national singles rankings. Zeynalova tallied a 7-1 mark in Big 12 Conference play during the regular season. During her freshman season in 2021-22, she registered a 23-1 overall singles mark (all in dual matches), including a 16-1 mark at the No. 3 singles line. Zeynalova was named to the All-Big 12 singles second team, the league's six-person All-Freshman team and was tabbed the Big 12 individual champion at No. 3 singles (7-0 in league play).
Zeynalova Claims Big 12 Honor: Sabina Zeynalova was named the Big 12 Conference Women's Tennis Player of the Week (Mar. 28), marking the first weekly conference honor of her career. She posted a 2-0 singles mark and a 1-0 record in doubles while leading the Longhorns to home wins against No. 6 Iowa State (Mar. 24) and No. 72 West Virginia (Mar. 26). Zeynalova registered a pair of dominant straight-set wins in singles, only dropping a combined seven games over her two matches. During the 6-1 win against No. 6 Iowa State, Zeynalova posted a 6-1, 6-3 win on court 2 against No. 53 Ange Oby Kajuru. She also paired with Chavatipon and the duo led 5-3 on court 1 against the No. 52-ranked pair of Thasaporn Naklo and Anna Supapitch Kuearum before the match was halted. In the 7-0 sweep over No. 72 West Virginia, Zeynalova again paired with Chavatipon and posted a 6-3 win on court 1 against Camilla Bossi and Ting-Pei Chang. She returned to the courts in singles and completed the weekend with a 6-2, 6-1 victory on court 2 over Chang.
Pachkaleva Makes Immediate Impact: A two-year star at Pepperdine and native of Moscow, Russia, junior Taisiya Pachkaleva has tallied a 15-4 overall singles record (13-4 in dual-match play) this season in her first year on the Forty Acres. She tallied a 5-2 mark in Big 12 Conference play in the regular season. During her two seasons with the Waves, Pachkaleva registered a 45-10 career singles mark (37-8 dual-match) and a 34-16 career doubles record (31-13 dual-match). A two-time All-West Coast Conference selection in singles and two-time ITA Scholar-Athlete selection, she helped lead Pepperdine to the NCAA Championship Match as a freshman in 2021 and the NCAA Quarterfinals as a sophomore in 2022.
Rapolu's Return: Junior Malaika Rapolu has posted a 22-7 overall singles record (leads the team in overall singles victories), including a 14-4 mark in dual-match action this season. Rapolu tallied a 6-1 mark in Big 12 Conference play in the regular season. During her sophomore season in 2021-22, she finished the year at No. 99 in the final ITA national singles rankings after registering a 13-7 overall singles mark, including a 6-3 record in dual-match play. As a freshman in 2020-21, Rapolu posted a 26-3 overall singles record, including a 19-2 mark in dual-match play, and was named the Big 12 individual champion at No. 6 singles (6-0 mark in league play).
ITA Texas Regional Champion: Malaika Rapolu captured the ITA Texas Regionals singles title in Fort Worth earlier this fall (Sept. 23-26). The third seed in the 64-player singles field, Rapolu won six consecutive matches over a span of four days en route to earning the title. She won five of her six matches in straight sets, as she was only pushed to a third set during her semifinal victory over SMU's Hadley Doyle. Rapolu defeated teammate Marlee Zein in the singles championship match by a score of 6-4, 6-3.
Rivkin Running Her Own Race: Freshman Nicole Rivkin has tallied a 16-5 overall singles record, including a 14-4 mark in dual-match action, in her first season as a Longhorn. She tallied a 7-2 mark in Big 12 Conference play in the regular season. Prior to coming to Texas, the native of Bremen, Germany won four ITF junior singles and four ITF junior doubles titles. She also advanced to the singles final at the ITF 15K in Amines, France in March 2022.
Back-to-Back NCAA Team Championships: Texas posted a 26-4 dual-match record during the 2022 season and captured their second-straight and fourth NCAA team title in program history with a 4-1 victory against Oklahoma in the championship match. UT previously won NCAA Championships in 1993, 1995 and 2021. The Longhorns joined Stanford and Florida as the only schools to repeat as NCAA Division I Women's Tennis national champions since 1982.
Joffe in Year Eight: Head Coach Howard Joffe is in his eighth season leading the UT program. Under Joffe's leadership, Texas claimed back-to-back NCAA team championships in 2021 and 2022 and has finished each of the last five years in the top 10 of the final ITA national polls, earning year-end rankings of No. 6 in 2018, No. 9 in 2019, No. 4 in 2020 and No. 1 in both 2021 and 2022. The Longhorns also have captured three Big 12 regular-season championships (2018, 2019 and 2021) and three Big 12 postseason tournament titles (2018, 2021 and 2022) in the last five seasons.
The 2021 ITA Division I Women's National Coach of the Year, Joffe has registered a 159-40 (.799) mark in his eight years at Texas. During his 16 seasons as a collegiate head coach, he has tallied a 290-101 (.742) dual-match record. Peyton Stearns claimed the Honda Sport Award for Tennis and the ITA National Player of the Year in 2022. Joffe has helped five Longhorns earn a total of seven ITA All-America honors in singles (Breaunna Addison in 2016, Bianca Turati in 2018, Anna Turati and Bianca Turati in 2020, Stearns in both 2021 and 2022 and Kylie Collins in 2022) and two duos earn ITA All-America accolades in doubles (Kylie Collins and Lulu Sun in 2021 and Stearns and Allura Zamarripa in 2022). Stearns became the first player in program history to win the NCAA Singles Championship in 2022, while Collins and Sun reached the finals of the NCAA Doubles Championship in 2021. In addition, 14 players have registered a combined 19 All-Big 12 singles and 18 All-Big 12 doubles selections in Joffe's tenure in Austin.
Players Mentioned
