Tennis phenom Connie Hsu headed for NCAAs

A month ago, I had the pleasure of profiling tennis freshman Connie Hsu, a native of Taiwan who has excelled in tennis since she was five years old. Even back in Feburary, both Hsu and coach Sanela Kunovac pointed to the NCAA singles tournament as a pivotal moment for Hsu's career, considering that she didn't face many challenges this year (her singles record of 43-2 speaks for itself). "I’d be curious to see how she’d do in the NCAAs against competition that’s just relentless from the first round," Kunovac said.

Well, that time has arrived. Yesterday, it was announced that Hsu earned one of 15 automatic bids to compete in the Division I Singles Championship beginning May 25. The Ivy League's fourth woman ever to capture both the Rookie and Player of the Year awards enters the tourney ranked 29th, down from her peak this spring of No. 12. Her descent in the rankings likely reflects the players above her facing better competition, as Hsu certainly took care of her own business, winning all 20 of her spring matches without dropping a set.

The tournament will provide the ultimate collegiate test for Hsu, who plans on competing professionally this summer. It will also provide a chance to prove that her only two losses this season were a bit of a fluke. At the ITA All-American Championships, the rookie battled through pre-qualifiers and qualifiers in order to reach the Round of 32. Then, after playing seven matches in six days, she dropped a first-set tiebreaker to Marshall's Michaela Kissell (currently ranked No. 52) and lost in three sets. At the William & Mary Invitational a month earlier, Hsu defeated Kissell, 6-3, 6-2, when both had equal rest. November 5 at the National Indoor Championships, Hsu had match point against Michigan's Denise Muresan, currently ranked No. 8 in the country, but couldn't capitalize and fell in a third-set tiebreaker. In other words, Hsu is a couple breaks away from being 45-0 heading into her first-ever NCAAs.

"She's that type of player," Kunovac told me in February. "She loves meeting and exceeding expectations"