Senior Unable To Make All-American Waves

It was bittersweet fun in the sun for women’s tennis senior Beier Ko last Tuesday and Wednesday as she flew to Pacific Palisades, Calif., to compete in the 2008 Riviera/ITA Women’s All American Championships.

The tournament, featuring the top 80 players in the country, began poorly for Ko, yet she managed to rebound in the back draw before withdrawing due to injury.

“It was a good tournament. All the good players play at the All-American,” Ko said. “I wish it would have gone a little better, but it still was a good experience.”

Her road certainly did not begin easily. In the first round of qualifying singles, Ko faced Duke’s Tara Iyer, ranked No. 60 in the nation.

Ko, who is ranked No. 84 nationally, fell 6-1, 6-0 to Iyer, who was playing so well that she went on to win two more matches and qualify for the tournament’s main draw.

“[Ko’s opponent] was on fire…Beier played a solid match, but the girl was just too much for her,” Harvard coach Traci Green said. “I’m proud of the way she fought, even though she got steamrolled.”

The consolation bracket proved to be much more hospitable for Ko, who ended up advancing to the quarterfinals in the easier bracket.

This time she found a much easier start, as her first round opponent, Janette Bejlikova of South Florida, withdrew due to injury.

Then came the highlight of Ko’s tournament, a hard-fought match against Boise State qualifier Pichitta Thongdach. The Crimson player emerged victorious in the end by a score of 6-1, 7-6 (5). Thongdach had in the first round defeated a good friend of Ko’s, Monica Dancevic of Georgia, so Ko knew what was coming and took advantage of it to jump out to an early lead.

Despite the large margin of victory, the first set was not the drubbing it appeared to be.

“[Competition in the first set] was pretty close; it was not a blowout 6-1 It was a lot of back-and-forth exchanges,” Green said.

As tensions mounted during the following set, both players raised their games.

“The first set I felt like she made more mistakes, and I was more consistent with putting the ball in the court,” Ko said. “But she stepped it up and was more consistent in the second set, hitting winners all over the place.”

At one point, Ko was down two games to five in the set, but she relied on the advice of her coach, who said to “hang in there…keep playing...keep fighting.”

And fight she did. The senior slowly clawed her way back into the set. It eventually came down to a nail-biter of a tiebreak, in which she was once again down 2-5.

Ko managed to save the match, winning five straight points to close out her opponent.

“I was like, ‘I do not want to play a third set,’” Ko said regarding the tiebreaker. “’Let’s try to kick it up a notch…try to hold serve and just try to hang with her.’”

Failing to carry over her momentum, Ko fell to her next challenger—not a player but in fact, her ankle.

“I did sprain my ankle,” Ko said. “It was unfortunate…I had to pull out.”

The injury was minor, however, and she is expected to be back in action soon.

“She’s fine now,” Green said. “She’s gearing up for our next match this coming weekend.”

Harvard travels to the U.S. Open Invitational in Flushing Meadows, N.Y. this Saturday.

Ko has high hopes for her senior season: she is aiming at an All-American berth, offered to those ranked in the top 20 and winners of at least two rounds in the NCAA tournament.

“It’s definitely doable, and I think it’s a good goal for me,” Ko said.

“If she works hard and puts her mind to it, her goals are within reach,” Green said.