Oct. 6, 2010
Tournament Central
PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. - Junior Sona Novakova's run at the Riviera/ITA Women's All-American Championship came to an end on Wednesday at the Riviera Tennis Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif.
After winning all three of her pre-qualifying matches, then her first match of qualifying, Novakova suffered the first loss of her Baylor career to Stanford's Mallory Burdette in straight sets. In a match that started on Tuesday afternoon, Burdette came out on a roll on Wednesday after the rains stopped.
On Tuesday, the match was suspended due to rain with Novakova on serve, but down 4-3. After waiting the rain out on Wednesday, the match resumed, but Burdette took the first set 6-4, then won the second set 6-1.
"I'm proud of the way Sona played in her first tournament as a Baylor Bear," head coach Joey Scrivano said. "Today she ran into a great player who was on top of her game. I believe Sona will learn from this match and use it as motivation to take her game to the next level."
Baylor's Nina Secerbegovic will represent the Lady Bears in the Main Draw, which begins tomorrow at the Riviera Tennis Club. Secerbegovic takes on Princeton's Hilary Bartlett at 12:45 p.m. PT/2:45 p.m. CT.
