5 women's players to watch this season

It was just 3 months ago we were crowning NCAA champions in Orlando. But as you all know, tennis is an evergreen sport and with All-Americans kicking off in less than 2 months, it’s already time to look ahead to the 2021-2022 season. Here are some players and storylines I’ll be keeping an eye on. I’ve given myself the follow criteria to pick 5 players based on season-ending ITA rankings:

1. Top 10
2. #11 - 50
3. #51+
4. Incoming Freshman
5. Wild card

1. Top 10: Janice Tjen (#6), Pepperdine (transferred from Oregon)

Behind NCAA singles winner Emma Navarro (UVA), Janice Tjen had the most successful debut of any true freshman in the country. The Oregon freshman finished her debut season at #6 in the ITA rankings which is the highest ever final ranking for an Oregon player. In addition she was:

• 22-3 in singles play

• Named Pac-12 Freshman of the Year

• NCAA singles semi-finalist

Tjen’s run to the NCAA semifinals was a shock to most, but in reflecting on her season’s results, perhaps it shouldn’t have been. In the dual season she only lost two times: once to #46 Colling of San Diego and once to #4 Forbes of UCLA. Outside of those two losses, she only lost 2 sets in the rest of her wins. In her stunning run to the final four, she beat the following players consecutively:

• #5 Jokic (UGA)

• #12 Drummy (Duke)

• #9 Rogers (NC State)

She fell to 2019 NCAA singles champion, and season-ending #1, Estela Perez-Somarriba of Miami in the semifinals. 

Tjen has clearly established herself as one of the best players in the country and obviously has caught the attention of NCAA team finalist Pepperdine, as she’ll be transferring there in the fall. Tjen’s transfer is part of a major reloading Pepperdine has done to replace the departure of their #1 (Lahey) and  #2 (Failla) from this year’s NCAA finals team. With a full fall schedule ahead of her, as well as a dual match schedule that will include National Indoors, I’m curious to see if the level Tjen showed in her debut season carries into her sophomore season. If it does, she’ll occupy the top of the rankings with fellow underclassman Navarro and Forbes, and potentially help Pepperdine get one match farther at the NCAA championship in May. 

2. #11 - 50: Alexa Noel (#21), Iowa

Noel had a fantastic back-half of 2019 in both the junior and professional ranks. On the junior circuit, she won the Grade A in Milan and reached the final of both Roehampton and Wimbledon before bowing out in the 3R of the US Open. These results propelled her to a career high of #4 in the junior world rankings. During this time on the professional circuit, she won a $15K tournament and reached two other SFs. Noel was on the brink of turning professional and “had no desire to attend college, but then COVID-19 changed everything.” At this point, and over the course of a one-week decision process, she decided to enroll at Iowa.

Iowa didn’t play any fall events in 2020 and was only allowed to play a Big 10 conference schedule in the spring. Given these restrictions, Noel might’ve had one of the most quiet, yet stellar, freshman debuts. She was:

• 17-0 in duel matches, hardly dropping any sets

• A program first: All-American, Big 10 Freshman of the Year, Big 10 Player of the Year

In fact, she was 23-0 going into the NCAA individual tournament before suffering a very unfortunate ankle injury in her second round match against LSU’s Paris Corley resulting in her first collegiate loss. She ended the season ranked #21 in the country.

Every indication suggests Alexa Noel is one of the best players in college tennis...we just haven’t seen her against the best competition. She hasn’t played any matches this summer which might suggest she’s still recovering from the ankle injury. Despite early indications that she might only play one season in college, I think we’ll see her return given the continued limited professional opportunities and the difficult note her debut season ended on. I’m excited to see how she stacks up in the individual tournaments this fall. 

3. #51+: Fiona Crawley (#53), North Carolina

UNC entered the 2021 season as the prohibitive title favorite, primarily because of their three returning “super seniors” of Daavettila, Graham, and Jones. While that extra year of eligibility dominated the narrative throughout the season as UNC continued their winning ways, freshman Fiona Crawley of San Antonio, quietly went 28-0 in dual matches primarily at the 4, 5, and 6 positions. In fact, she only lost 3 sets in those 28 matches. (It’s worth noting that Reilly Tran, who finished the season playing #6 for UNC, also went undefeated). Crawley produced such a stellar season that she qualified for the NCAA singles championship - something almost impossible to do for a player with no fall tournament play and only playing in the bottom of the lineup. Ultimately, that’s where she suffered her first loss of the season, bowing out in the first round to #44 Akli of Maryland. 

Crawley may be small in stature, but she absolutely packs a punch for her size. She’s aggressive, not afraid to close at the net, and hits deep into the court. She’s on my list because I’m interested to see how her game holds up against bigger-hitters who are more consistent -- I think she’ll fare surprisingly well. Morra and Scotty from this year’s UNC team are the only players who played higher than Crawley in the lineup and are returning next season. I doubt we’ll see another undefeated season from her as she moves up the lineup but I expect deep runs in the fall tournaments and a virtual lock wherever she plays in the lineup. 

4. Incoming Freshman: Stanford’s 3 Freshmen 

I’m breaking my own rules a little bit here by choosing the entirety of Stanford’s incoming freshmen class; however, I truly believe the success of these 3 players will dictate much of the 2022 season’s storylines.

Stanford is the most decorated women’s tennis program in the country. They’ve won 20 NCAA championships which is more than every other school combined. Since I’ve been attending the NCAAs in 2010, Stanford’s success could be defined into player eras, often of the same class year:

• Late 2000s-early 2010s: Burdette(s) and Barte

• Mid-2010s: Gibss and Ahn

• Late-2010s: Lampl and Lord

After a historically bad 2021 season where Stanford failed to win 2 NCAA matches since 1985 (back when you only had to win 4, not 6, total matches to win the title) and suffered program-first losses like to Oregon, this incoming freshmen class has the potential to usher in a new, winning era. The three incoming freshmen topped Tennis Recruiting’s “Top Women’s Classes - 2021 Rankings” list for a reason; they’re 3 of the most accomplished players in their class, and at the date of TRN’s article publication, all had UTRs above 11; Yepifanova (pictured) and Ma had the two highest UTRs of all incoming freshmen. 

• Connie Ma: A local to the Bay Area, Ma has been ranked #1 in her class for the last 4 years. Despite her junior pedigree, we haven’t seen her compete on the ITF junior or professional circuit since 2019. Outside of one event last fall, she’s only just returned to competitive play this summer with some UTR events and she’s had mixed results. She lost to rising high school freshman Tianmei Wang and Taylor Johnson of UCLA who didn't play in their starting singles lineup. These are absolutely not matches Ma would be losing several years ago. So despite the pedigree, she begins her time at Stanford in a month as a big open question for me. 

• Alexandra Yepifanova: Yepifanova of Florida has the most international experience of the three. She made the 2019 Junior US Open final and reached #10 in the junior world rankings following an impressive championship run at the Internationship Spring Championships in San Diego this March. Since that win, though, her results have been mixed. She lost in the first round of the J1 in Roehampton and the 2R of Wimbledon. Additionally, this past week, she lost unimpressively in the R32 at the USTA Girls nationals as the #4 seed to Meera Jesudason, a rising junior ranked #23 in her class. Ypeifanova then lost immediately (and easily) in the consolation draw to Katja Wiersholm, a player she beat back in March. Also worth noting that since February, she’s been 1-6 when playing ITFs on the professional circuit. While less of a mystery than Ma since she’s been playing consistently, Yepifanova has shown sporadic form this year but still enters college with the most decorated junior resume as any other freshmen. 

• Valencia Xu: Xu of New Jersey is the least accomplished player of the 3, but that’s underselling her accomplishments. She’s been ranked top 50 in the junior world rankings! Additionally, Xu has consistently been in the top 5 of her class, finishing her senior season as #10. She’s entering Stanford off of a nice week in San Diego at the USTA Nationals where she made the quarterfinals.

There are lots of other highly-touted incoming freshmen. But Stanford’s three freshmen have the results, pedigree, and talent to vault Stanford back into the national conversation after this disastrous past season which is why they're on my watch list.

5. Wild Card: Charlotte Chavatipon (#68), Texas

I thought about cheating again here and including all of the Texas sophomores on this list. I mean, Texas won a national championship starting 5 freshmen this season -- that’s insane! Plus, rumors are swirling right now about which of those 5 players will return for a second season (and go professional) and nothing will alter the team landscape more than whether Texas returns a full roster next year. But, in lieu of choosing all of them, I’ll focus on one who I’m most intrigued to watch develop next year: Charlotte Chavatipon.

The Fullerton, California native ended the season 25-1 in dual matches primarily at the #4 position; unfortunately for Chavatipon, that one loss stings more than usual: it was the deciding match at the ITA National Indoor final against UNC. After that match, she went 18-0 and helped Texas win the NCAAs which I’m sure helped smooth over her loss to UNC. Chavatipon continued her winning ways into the summer immediately making the semifinals of a $25K after advancing through qualifying. Since then, she’s continued to play professional tournaments this summer which includes qualifying and making the R16 at the $60K in Charleston. While her results this past season and summer have been impressive, what really stands out to me about Chavatipon is her upside.

It’s clear when you watch Chavatipon in-person that she has huge potential. She’s tall, athletic, has a big serve and strokes, and will easily finish points at the net. She could’ve been playing #1 for most other teams and it’s a bummer she wasn’t able to play the fall tournaments last season to get her ranking up to enter the NCAA singles championships. I know she has pro aspirations so I’m not sure how much we’ll get to see her in college but if she stays for a few years, I think we could see her holding another NCAA trophy, but this time for singles. She really is that good.