When Ronit Yurovsky saw that her first opponent in the ITA Women’s All-American Championships would be No. 9 Hayley Carter of North Carolina, there was one thing on her mind: revenge.
While representing the Michigan women’s tennis team less than a month ago at the ITA Masters, Yurovsky lost to Carter in straight sets. Thursday, she was out to prove that she was better than she showed in the earlier defeat. Yurovsky did just that.
After winning the first set, 6-2, the senior dropped the second, 6-2, but was able to pull off the upset, winning the final set, 6-4.
Yurovsky finished her junior season ranked No. 31 in the country and comes into her final year at No. 19 in the preseason rankings.
“This year, I set a goal to enjoy myself out on the court and sort of relax a little bit,” Yurovsky said. “Last year, I sort of struggled with a little bit of confidence, and I wasn’t performing my best because of that. So this year, I sort of have a new attitude to go out there and take every match one at a time, and it seems to be helping, because I’m also playing a lot better.”
Yurovsky carried her winning ways into Friday’s first match, when she took on No. 16 Klara Fabikova of California. After the first set, it didn’t appear as though Yurovsky would come away with the win, as she lost the set, 6-0.
“Most of my matches this weekend were pretty up and down, especially in the second match,” Yurovsky said. “I lost the first set in maybe 10 minutes. It was really fast, and so I was just like, ‘I have nothing to lose, just go out there and play my game.’ Staying relaxed and having fun definitely helped me and got me back into the match.”
Yurovsky rallied in the second set, battling back to win, 7-5. She then closed out the match with a 6-4 third-set win to move on to the quarterfinals.
Yurovsky’s run came to an end Friday afternoon against Georgia’s Ellen Perez in a straight-set loss. Though Yurovsky fought hard in the first set, she lost, 7-5, and Perez took over in the second set, winning 6-1.
“This helps a lot, getting in as many matches as I can,” Yurovsky said. “Over the summer I didn’t play that much, so I kind of lost that competitive feeling. In the fall, I’m just trying to play as many as I can so that I’m comfortable out there and I’m getting that competitiveness back. I think that is going to help me a lot during the season because I’ll be ready to play as many matches as I need to.”