Having taken a break from playing tennis this summer, Riza Zalameda was looking to come back and use last week’s Riviera/ITA All-American Championships as a tournament to get her back into the swing of things.
The Bruin senior did just that, getting off to a solid start with two convincing wins over Georgia’s Monica Dancevic and third-seeded Melanie Gloria of Fresno State, giving up just three games in the quarterfinal match against Gloria.
“I knew I had the right game to beat her,” Zalameda said. “It wasn’t too surprising because I had a good win against her last year, also.”
Zalameda’s run came to a halt in the next round, however, as she fell to Maya Johansson, a qualifier from Georgia Tech, in three sets.
The loss didn’t take a toll on the senior’s hopes, as Zalameda was pleased with how she played after taking time off in the middle of summer, and she looks to continue to improve on various facets of her game.
“I’m working on a few different things that I want to capitalize on this upcoming season,” she said.
“I’m trying to become more multi-dimensional and work on my all-around game, including coming to the net more often.”
Zalameda was joined by two fellow teammates, senior Tracy Lin and sophomore Yasmin Schnack, at the championships.
Schnack, a qualifier for the tournament, started the main draw with an impressive 6-4, 6-2 victory over Georgia Tech’s Kristi Miller, the fifth-seeded player, but she lost in the next round to Arkansas’ Aurelija Miseviciute.
Lin, meanwhile, lost in the first round, then lost to Miller in the second round of the consolation draw.
ABID NEARLY PULLS OFF UPSET: From the moment he landed in Tulsa, Okla., junior tennis player Haythem Abid knew he would have to struggle to do as well as he wished in the Polo Ralph Lauren All-American Championships.
Abid became ill after sitting next to a woman with a bad cough on the plane from Los Angeles to Tulsa. He became easily fatigued after the first day of the tournament, during which he played two matches lasting a total of nearly six hours.
“The first day was very tough because I was sick, but I felt like I did pretty well,” he said.
“It wasn’t because I played good tennis, but I was fighting really well and had a good attitude.”
With the two wins on the first day of play, including a win over USC’s Kaes van’t Hof in the second round, Abid was set to play defending national champion Somdev Devvarman of Virginia.
Although Abid dropped the first set to Devvarman, he got himself back into the match by taking the second set. From there, though, the Bruin junior felt that he blew some opportunities that came back to haunt him in the end.
Abid dropped his first service game of the set and could not convert on a late hold at 4-4 when he was ahead 30-0, which allowed Devvarman to serve for the match.
“In the third set, I should’ve been more intense and won the first game when I was serving, but I didn’t take advantage of him getting down after he lost the second set,” Abid said.
After arriving back in Westwood, Abid looks to overcome his illness before preparing for the ITA Regional Championships, which begin Oct. 17 in Malibu.
Meanwhile, fellow men’s tennis players Michael Look, a junior, and senior Jeremy Drean will travel to Midland, Texas, for the Midland Texas Invitational, which starts Friday.