USD Women's Tennis 2000

I ZUZANA LESENAROVA

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ZUZANA LESENAROVA 5'8" Senior - Novy Vicin, Czech Republic 1999 NCAA Women s Tennis National Champion 3-Time NCAA All-America

ZUZANA LESENAROVA enters her fou1t h and fi nal year with the Torero women's tenni s team ... not onl y will she leave USD as the program's best all-time player, she will leave coll egiate women's tenni s as one of the all-time best coll egiate players ever ~t the NCAA Di vision I level. .. she is already off to a great sta1t fo r the 1999-2000 season as she

became the first player ever to win the National Clay Cou1t singles titl e twice; she beat teammate Katarina Valkyova in the fi nal, and she teamed with Valkyova to reach the Clay Court doubl es fin al ... she fo ll owed that up with her 2nd straight win at the Riv iera All-American three weeks later ... she entered the 1999-2000 season ranked No. I by the ITA, and with both Fall ITA Grand Slam victories, held her ranking heading in to the Spring season ... thi s past February, for the second straight season, she attempted to make co llegiate tenni s hi story at the Rolex Nati onal Intercoll egiate Indoor Champion– shi ps -- she was attempting to become the first player to ever win the fi rst three legs of the ITAColl egiate Grand Slam ...a fi rst round loss still left her with an incredible 24-2 mark in her last 26 Grand Slam matches -- all told she has won 35 ITA Grand Slam matches in her career ... after her fabulous junior campaign that saw her wi n three of the four ITAGrand Slam events, including the 1999 NCAA singles title where she defeated No. 3 seed Marissa Irvin of Stanfo rd , 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3), Lesenarova ended the campaign as the No. I ranked pl ayer ... she became onl y the second women's player to ever win three of the four legs of the ITA Collegiate Grand Slam Uoining Florida's Lisa Raymond) ... as the winner of the NCAA's, she earned an automati c bid into the U.S. Open main draw thi s past August where she lost her Ist round match ... in her fabulous 1999 run last season Zuzana fini shed 39-5 in singles, and teamed with Katarina Valkyova to reach the semifi nals of the NCAA Doubles Tournament ... she opened the 1998-99 Fall season in September by winning the singles title at the T. Rowe Price Nati onal Clay Court Champi onships in Baltimore (df. Mirela Vl adulesu ofAlabama-Birmjngham, 6- 0, 6-1 in final) ... three weeks later she won her second stra ight Grand Sl am ti tle, winning the Ri viera All-American -- she defeated Vanessa Webb in the semi s, 6- 1, 7-6; she beat Martina Nedelkova of Virgi ni a Commonwealth, 6-0, 4-6, 6-3 in fi nal) ... by jumping to a I0-start after the two tourneys, she knocked off five players ranked in the pre-season ITA top– ten, and became onl y the second women's player to win the opening two legs of the Coll egiate Grand Slam ... she jumped from her pre-season singles ranking of No. 6 to No. I and held that position the rest of the season ... in February, 1999, she lost in the semifinals at the Rolex Indoors, losing to Stanfo rd 's Mari ssa Irvin, 6- 1, 6-7, 6-3 ... in addi tion to her fi ve ITAColl egiate Grand Slam titles, Zuzana has al so reached three semifinal rounds, two quarterfinal rounds and one round of 16 in her eleven Grand Slam events ... to go with her three Grand Slam titl es last season, she was named the ITANati onal Women's Player of the Year; was selected to the Rolex AlI-Star team; earned her third straight NCAAAll-Ameri ca honor; was named the ITA Nati onal Player of the Month (October); along with doubles pa1tner Katarina Valkyova, was named the ITADoubles Team of the Month (March); earned her second straight West Coast Conference Pl ayer of the Year honor; and with her 3.3 GPA in Communicati on Studi es (Business minor), was named to the WCC All-Academi c Team fo r the second stra ight year ... she was also selected one of two Amateur Athl etes of the Year by the San Diego Hall ofChampi ons -- she became the first female to earn the award since 1978 ... in 1998 Lesenarova advanced to the semifinals of the NCAA Singles Champi onships and earned All-America status and WCC Player of the Year honors -- she fini shed the year with a 35-8 single record and nati onal ranking of No. 9 .. . her fres hman year she advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA's and fini shed with a record of 27-5 and nati onal ranking of No. 20 ... heading into her fourth and final spring season with USO, Zuzana has an overall record of 165-45 ( 11 7- 19 singles; 48-26 doub les) ... prior to USO she attended one semester at the Uni versity of Ostrava, Czech Republic ... she chose USO fo r its academi cs, tenni s program and weather/l ocati on of San Diego ... she found USO on the Internet and then contacted coach Sherri Stephens about the possibility of a scholarship ... enj oys downh ill skiing, snowboarding and music ... parents are Mi ros lav and Helena Lesenarova of ovy Vi cin, Czech Republic. Major: Commun ications; Minor: Business Admini strati on.

2000 University of Sau Diego Women's Te1111is -- Home to Zuzana Lese11arova, I999 NCAA Division I National Champion