Nov. 3, 2017
PALM DESERT, Calif. – After a long and successful day on court, Fernanda Contreras finds herself in the Oracle ITA Fall National Championship semifinals.
Tomorrow will be Contreras’ second straight national semifinal, as the junior won last month’s Riviera/ITA All-American Championships in Pacific Palisades, Calif. The Texan’s path to the semifinals has been riddled with difficult challenges, but Contreras has found a way to take all three of her matches in straight-sets.
“I’m just grateful to be in the competition,” said Contreras. “I love the stage of the final four, and I just want to compete out there. I started meditating and relaxing before each match a few months ago and that has been working well in preparation. I’m just so grateful and I try to remember that it’s just a tennis match… that helps put things into perspective and calm my nerves.”
With two matches on Friday, Fernanda began the day at 10 a.m. CT facing Loyola Marymount’s Veronica Miroshnichenko. Like Thursday’s victory, Contreras’ round of 32 match ended with a lopsided score as she duked it out throughout the first set, 7-5, then blazed through the second for a 7-5, 6-1 victory.
In quarterfinals, the Vanderbilt student-athlete faced a familiar opponent in Clemson’s Marie Leduc. The Dores have hosted Clemson in the previous two NCAA tournaments, defeating the Tigers last year for a spot in the NCAA Sweet 16. Leduc and Contreras battled back and forth throughout the first set, with the Commodore walking away with the close advantage, 7-5.
Contreras took a swift 4-1 advantage in the second set, however the Tiger had other plans as she clawed her way back into the set to chip away at the lead, 4-3. With Contreras up 5-3, Leduc held serve to close the gap once more, 5-4. The Commodore held serve to seal her position in semifinals, 7-5, 6-4.
Contreras will face Florida International’s Andrea Lazarro. Lazarro faced the VU’s Christina Rosca at Riviera All-Americans last month, where the Panther ended her run as a tournament semifinalist.
