Oct. 4, 2005
PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif.- New Mexico’s No. 49 Iva Gersic competed in the qualifying singles matches today at the Riviera/ITA All-American Women’s Tennis Championships held in Pacific Palisades, Calif. She was defeated in the first round of 64 by UCLA’s Alex McGoodwin, 6-4, 6-4, but was able to snag a solid win in the back draw round of 32 over Washington State’s 45th-ranked Ekaterina Burduli (6-4, 6-4).
Gersic will remain in the qualifying back draw for the remainder of the tournament and is no longer able to qualify for the singles main draw. Her match in the round of 16 starts tomorrow at 10 a.m. (MST).
Starting Thursday, Gersic will compete in the main doubles draw with teammate Maja Kovacek. Last weekend, the 3rd-ranked pair won their entire doubles flight at the Cal Berkeley Invite.
At last year’s All-American Championships, Kovacek and Gersic stormed through the doubles main draw, advancing all the way to the semifinals to receive an automatic berth into the ITA National Individual Indoor Championships.
Kovacek, who is nationally ranked No. 30 as a singles player according to the ITA preseason polls, will also be competing in the main singles draw on Thursday. The Lobo senior is coming off her biggest collegiate win ever after defeating No. 2 Suzi Babos of California in the final singles round at last weekend’s Cal Invite.
For complete results and more information on the Riviera/ITA All-American Championships visit the ITA Web Site.
Today’s Results
Qualifying Singles Round of 64
No. 72 Alex McGoodwin (UCLA) def. No. 49 Iva Gersic (UNM) 6-4, 6-4
Qualifying Singles Back Draw – Round of 32
No. 49 Iva Gersic (UNM) def. No. 45 Ekaterina Burduli (Washington State) 6-4, 6-4