Oct. 23, 2006
FORT WORTH, Texas - Down 5-1 in the doubles championship match of the 2006 ITA/Wilson Southwest Regional, things looked bleak for the TCU doubles team of Ana Cetnik and Anna Sydorska. But the Horned Frogs' duo came storming back and won five straight games for the 8-6 victory at Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center Monday afternoon.
"To be down 5-1 and come back and win 8-6 is an amazing run," said interim head coach Jefferson Hammond. "It's not easy at all to do. The key was our mental approach. We saw the other team get down so that encouraged us to keep fighting."
As the regional doubles champions, the pair automatically earns a spot in the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships, hosted by The Ohio State University, from Nov. 2-5.
"We carry each other on the court," said an elated Cetnik right after the match. "Even when we were down, we believed in each other and never had the attitude that we were going to lose. I'm excited and very happy because this is my senior year and now I'm going to nationals."
Sydorska made history for TCU, as she became the only Horned Frog female to ever win two-straight back-to-back regional doubles championships. As a freshman last season, Sydorska and then-partner Helena Besovic won the 2005 Southwest Regional Championships doubles title. At the time, it was the first regional doubles title in school history for the Horned Frogs.
"I had two different partners each of the last two seasons so both wins felt like a new experience," said Sydorska. "I am so excited and happy that we won. The girls from LSU were playing really well but Ana and I never gave up and won as a team."
Cetnik and Sydorska, ranked No. 24 in the country, entered the tournament as the No. 2 seed and faced seventh-seeded Hannah Robinson and Megan Falcon of LSU in the championship finale. After being down 5-1, TCU tied the match up at 5-all and eventually broke (6-5). The Tigers answered back and tied it up 6-6 before the Frogs raced away with the 8-6 win.
Being down is nothing new for Cetnik and Sydorksa. Throughout the last four days, the pair - who won the Baylor Fall Invitational doubles title last month - found themselves down at various times but pulled out the victories.
"A couple of matches ago they were down 7-3, fought back, and eventually won the tiebreaker 9-8," said Hammond. They have resolve, they play like champions, and so that's why they are champions."
Other Notes:
- Cetnik also had an outstanding singles tournament. After losing the first match, she won five straight singles matches and won the consolation bracket. In the championship singles match of the back draw, Cetnik defeated Texas A&M's Anna Blagodarova 6-1, 6-4.
--gofrogs.com --
