In the first set of junior Jaedan Brown’s singles match, she battled all the way back from a 4-1 deficit to tie it at 6, sending it to a tiebreaker.
But that wasn’t even her first tiebreaker of the day.
In the Michigan women’s tennis team’s doubles play, No. 2 duo Brown and junior Kari Miller took on Wisconsin’s No. 65 Ava Markham and Maria Sholokhova. It was a thrilling showdown in which neither team could take a decisive lead. Brown and Miller went up 6-5, only for the Badgers to force a tiebreaker in the subsequent game.
“The main thing, I think, is just to stay aggressive,” Brown said. “We need to take advantage of the net, go for balls and stay aggressive.”
The duos traded points back and forth, but when it came to match point, it was Brown’s aggressiveness that kept the Wolverines in it. A quick-reflex return at the net by Brown put the ball out of Wisconsin’s reach to make it 6-6. From there Michigan went on to win 8-6, sealing the doubles point in its favor, and bolstering the players as they entered singles matches.
In singles play, No. 30 Brown once again found herself in a battle. She matched up against No. 44 Ava Markham for the second time on the day. Markham took an early lead as Brown worked to find her footing in the initial games.
“I think I was kind of struggling with either not hitting it enough or going for too much,” Brown said. “Just finding an easy medium between those was the biggest difference for me.”
That difference came into effect as Brown slowly ate away at Markham’s lead, winning two games back-to-back to work the deficit down to 4-3. She had adjusted to Markham’s service game and a comeback looked likely, but it would require the same perseverance she had shown in her earlier doubles match.
It wasn’t going to be easy, as Markham extended her lead to 5-3. In danger of losing the first set, Brown capitalized on serving position and went up 40-15, only to let Markham back into the game. Brown flung her racket up, seemingly out of frustration, before cooly catching it right back out of the air. Her focus remained intact. She stepped back up to the baseline, won the game, won the next one — and the one after that.
Markham, however, was just as determined and tied the score at 6-6. Just like in doubles, it would take another tiebreaker to find a winner.
Once again, Brown emerged victorious.
Compared to the first set, the second one went much smoother. Brown pulled away from her opponent, with each serve seemingly more powerful than the last, to finish the set 6-3.
“Jaedan is tough and she was competing and staying positive,” Michigan coach Ronni Bernstein said. “I think that’s what helped her get off the court in two sets.”
That positivity, along with her perseverance through two grueling tiebreakers, carried Brown to two wins on the day — helping Michigan to a win along with her.