Texas women’s tennis had a successful showing at the ITA Texas Regionals this past weekend in Fort Worth taking home first and second place titles in the singles draw. 

Coming off an NCAA national championship season, the Longhorns looked to set the tone in their season opener. Six players competed in the singles draw, three of which – junior Malaika Rapolu, graduate student Marlee Zein and sophomore Vivian Ovrootsky – advanced to the semifinals. 

Play opened on Thursday with sophomore Grace Thomas losing in three sets to Rice’s Diae El Jardi in the singles qualifying draw Round of 64. Thomas then rallied to collect her first collegiate singles win against Lamar’s Emma Shasteen in the singles consolation qualifying draw Round of 32.

Junior Simran Kortikere and freshman Susanna Brass both posted losses in their Round of 64 showings to Tarleton’s Clara Sobius and TCU’s Margaret Polk, respectively. They were met with similar results in the consolation Round of 32, with Kortikere losing to Lamar’s Femke Tjon-A-Joe and Brass to Tarleton’s Celia Vaudiau. 

Friday’s play started with Zein defeating Lizanne Boyer of Texas A&M, 6-2, 6-2, then beating Rice’s Maria Budin, 6-2, 7-5. Malaika Rapolu won both of her matches for the day as well, collecting wins over Abilene Christian’s Olivia Sears and Houston’s Azul Pedemonti in straight sets. Vivian Ovrootsky beat SMU’s Drew Morris and UT-Arlington’s Sarina Reinertsen to advance with her teammates to the Round of 16. 

This trio continued to dominate all the way until the semifinals. Rapolu defeated SMU’s Hadley Doyle, 6-1, 6-7 (6-8), 1-0 (10-3), dropping her only set of the tournament. Zein then beat teammate Ovrootsky, 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-5), 7-5, to advance to the singles final against Rapolu.

At the championship match on Monday, Rapolu bested Zein with a 6-4, 6-3 victory to take home the singles title.

After a strong showing this weekend, the Longhorns will hope to keep the momentum going as they hit the court next at the USTA Pro Circuit at the Texas Tennis Center in Austin, with play running through Sunday, Oct. 2.