Monika Hadvigerova Earns Sooner Invite Singles Championship
9/26/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
"Monika did great all tournament," said Assistant Coach Marco Matteucci. She didn't drop a set all weekend and kept it together in all of the second sets played. I hope that these wins increase her confidence and she uses it to play well at her final regional tournament of her college career October 22."
The senior from Bratislava, Slovakia battled against Tulsa's Anamaria Candanoza for the championship, winning 6-2, 6-4.
Hadvigerova finished the weekend a perfect 4-0 in singles play, defeating opponents from DePaul, North Texas, and two from Tulsa.
The senior's road to the championship began Friday when she defeated Cali Gustafson of DePaul and opened day two with a quarterfinal win against North Texas's Carolina Barboza, 6-0, 6-1. Hadvigerova closed out day two of the tournament with a straight set victory over Tulsa's Bonny Davidson, 6-0, 7-6.
Giada D'ortona also had a good day, winning the North singles bracket. D'ortona defeated Big 12 opponent Brittany Parks, 0-6, 6-2 and 6-4. The newcomer finished the weekend 2-1 in singles play, defeating opponents from DePaul, Wichita State and Oklahoma.
"Giada played a great match after the first set. She allowed herself to add more variety to her game, it's really interesting to see how every match she played this weekend was different than the other. She tried to adjust and improve her game," added Matteucci.
In the Northeast bracket, Linda Aqvist fell short, falling 6-0, 6-1 to Wichita State's Veronika Blaskova.
"Linda today wasn't able to perform at her best today due to a very windy day. She played a very good opponent that could muscle the ball through the wind a little better but she did beat two great players this weekend. I think her game is going to get better mentally, tactically and technically over the next couple of weeks," Matteucci said.
Playing in the Southeast bracket, Natalia Mayuk suffered a 6-4, 6-3 setback to Tulsa's Meredith Burns.
"Today, Natalia once again played a good match. Sometimes with some losses the outcome can be better than the win. She played excellent all weekend and we discovered a more aggressive side of her as she tried to shorten the length of her points to conserve energy," said Matteucci.
In doubles action, duo Mayuk and Aqvist faced Arkansas-Little Rock's Nathalia Garay and Veronique Luksich in the consolation bracket where they recorded an 8-6 win. The two Mavericks teammates could not continue doubles play due to teams leaving early.
Hadvigerova and D'ortona close out the final day with an easy 8-1 victory in the South bracket against DePaul's Samantha Kenata and Anamaria Candanoza of Tulsa.
The Mavericks will now set their sights on the ITA/Riviera All-American Championships on October 2 in the Pacific Palisades, CA.
