The spotlight was on Maria Anisimova yesterday as she defeated a player from North Carolina in the finals of the Flight C singles match at the National Tennis Invitational in New York.
The freshman came out of nowhere, defeating players from high-level programs and advancing further than any Penn player. However, the win did not come easy to Anisimova as she had to "fight for every point."
"My power was my strength," she said. "I overpowered most of the girls that I played against. I won by getting winners, not by them making mistakes, which was definitely my favorite part of my matches."
Not only did Anisimova overcome being younger and less experienced than most of the players at the tournament, but she was also battling injury. Earlier in the season, she strained both of her quadriceps, preventing her from competing in any matches before the invitational.
"This is my first real tournament back from injury," Anisimova said. "I just wanted to play as many matches as I could and just have fun and represent Penn at its best."
Anisimova also paired with Charlie Tansil in the finals of the doubles deep flight. The team was defeated by a duo from Duke, however.
Anisimova and Tansil had an advantage compared to most other teams, as one is a righty and the other is a lefty. This helped them over the weekend by giving them more versatility in their gameplay, and ultimately reached the finals.
"In the finals, I felt like we didn't have our composure all together," Anisimova said. "The other girls played really well, but overall I think we still had a good tournament. I can't complain."
