Texas women’s tennis took the court Friday through Sunday for the first time this season at the TCU Invitational.
The Longhorns registered a total of 17 victories, with 12 in singles and five in doubles, during the three-day, round-robin tournament. Texas competed against players from Big 12 schools TCU, Oklahoma and Baylor, as well as North Texas and Arkansas.
Freshman Charlotte Chavatipon was named one of three singles champions, as voted on by the seven participating coaches, for her outstanding performance throughout the tournament.
The Longhorns showcased their youth and top-recruiting class, as a total of four of the seven players who competed are freshmen. Junior Tijana Spasojevic, senior Anna Turati and freshman Lulu Sun did not compete over the weekend but are expected to join the team for the spring calendar.
Texas completed the first day of the tournament with two double and four single victories where Chavatipon and freshman Malaika Rapolu both recorded single wins over their TCU opponents. Senior duo Fernanda Labraña and Marta Perez Mur not only added to Texas’ win column in the singles category but also in doubles, as the experienced players proved too much for TCU.
The second day of the tournament saw six more victories for the Longhorns, as Rapolu, Perez Mur, Labraña and freshman Simran Kortikere defeated opponents from North Texas in doubles play. Chavatipon, Rapolu, Labraña and Perez Mur added to the win column with impressive victories in the singles category.
Texas tallied five more victories on the final day of the tournament. The freshman duo Peyton Stearns and Chavatipon captured their first doubles victory as a pair against Arkansas. Chavatipon, Rapolu, Labraña and Perez Mur closed out the weekend with hard-fought singles victories as the Arkansas players struggled to contain them.
Labraña, Perez Mur, Chavatipon and Rapolu all had perfect records over the weekend, going 3–0 against the opposition in singles play. Perez Mur and Labraña will be one to look out for throughout the season, as the duo went 2–1 over the weekend in doubles.
The Texas women’s tennis team will look to learn from this tournament as they take the court for another three-day competition at the Texas A&M Invitational in College Station Oct. 16-18.
