University of Georgia Athletics
Sunday, November 11
Surprise, Ariz.
TBA
University of Georgia
vs
ITA National Fall Championships
Jokic Wins ITA National Fall Championships
November 11, 2018 | Women's Tennis
SURPRISE, ARIZ. – Georgia sophomore Katarina Jokic captured the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships singles title Sunday with a straight set win over senior Kate Fahey of Michigan.
The eighth-ranked Jokic went 6-0 in the tournament, winning all of her matches in straight sets to improve to 10-1 this fall. As the singles champion, Jokic will receive a main draw wildcard into a 2019 Oracle Challenger Series tournament. The Oracle ITA National Fall Singles Championships will re-air on ESPNU on Tuesday, Nov. 13th, at 3 p.m. EDT.
Her road to the final included wins over Madeline Bosnjak of Georgia Gwinnett who was the NAIA singles champion, No. 99 Livia Kraus of Baylor, fourth-ranked Ashley Lahey of Pepperdine who reached the 2018 NCAA singles final, the top seed and seventh-ranked Fernanda Conteras (Vanderbilt), 30th-ranked Christina Rosca (Vanderbilt) and then 18th-ranked Fahey. Friday's win over Lahey marked the highest ranked player she had defeated in her career. On Sunday, she capped her tournament run with a 6-3,7-5 victory over Fahey.
In its second year, having replaced the ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships, the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships is the lone event on the collegiate tennis calendar to feature competitors from all five divisions (NCAA Divisions I, II and III, NAIA and JUCO) playing in the same tournament.
In Sunday's final, the participants traded service breaks to open the match before each held to knot it at 2-all. Jokic then held serve for a 3-2 advantage and then converted another break point opportunity for a 4-2 lead. In the seventh game, she fell behind 15-40 and got it back to deuce to force a deciding point with the no-ad format. Jokic won a lengthy rally to take a commanding 5-2 lead. After Fahey held, Jokic closed out the set 6-3. In the second set Fahey raced out to a 3-0 lead before Jokic stormed back to tie it up and then at 4-all, she broke Fahey again for a 5-4 advantage. The Wolverine broke back to make it 5-all and Jokic responded with a service break for a 6-5 lead. The set looked to be headed to a tiebreaker when Fahey took a 40-15 advantage but Jokic responded once again to get it back to deuce. She came through on championship point for a 6-3,7-5 victory.
"This was an amazing experience overall," said Jokic, "I won the tournament and had some tough matches, and I learned that I don't have to play the same game all the time. Also, I learned that I'm tougher than I actually thought I was. I was down 3-0 and that's not a good thing after winning the first set. I focused on the next point, I knew she was a tough player, and I had to keep fighting the whole match. No matter what happened each game, I just kept my focus on the next point."
"I'm so proud of Kat and the way she competed all week," Georgia associate head coach Drake Bernstein said. "Today was the pinnacle of it all. She was tested down 3-0 in the second set and fought back to 3-3. She was broken serving for the championship and bounced right back to get a break to make it 5-all. She was down 15-40 in the last game but she maintained a worker's mentality through the last point. This is a great step forward for her. We ended the fall with a lot of momentum. We look to continue to work to get ready for the dual match season."
Jokic's title marked the 11thindividual national championship in Georgia women's tennis history and the first for a Bulldog since Chelsey Gullickson won the 2010 NCAA singles title in Athens. Jokic went 31-8 last year playing in the top spot in the lineup to earn All-America honors along with ITA Southeast Regional Rookie of the Year, SEC Freshman of the Year and All-SEC First Team recognition.
# #
For more information on Georgia women's tennis, follow the team on Twitter @UGAWomensTennis, Instagram (@ugawomenstennis) and on Facebook (Georgia Women's Tennis).
The eighth-ranked Jokic went 6-0 in the tournament, winning all of her matches in straight sets to improve to 10-1 this fall. As the singles champion, Jokic will receive a main draw wildcard into a 2019 Oracle Challenger Series tournament. The Oracle ITA National Fall Singles Championships will re-air on ESPNU on Tuesday, Nov. 13th, at 3 p.m. EDT.
Her road to the final included wins over Madeline Bosnjak of Georgia Gwinnett who was the NAIA singles champion, No. 99 Livia Kraus of Baylor, fourth-ranked Ashley Lahey of Pepperdine who reached the 2018 NCAA singles final, the top seed and seventh-ranked Fernanda Conteras (Vanderbilt), 30th-ranked Christina Rosca (Vanderbilt) and then 18th-ranked Fahey. Friday's win over Lahey marked the highest ranked player she had defeated in her career. On Sunday, she capped her tournament run with a 6-3,7-5 victory over Fahey.
In its second year, having replaced the ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships, the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships is the lone event on the collegiate tennis calendar to feature competitors from all five divisions (NCAA Divisions I, II and III, NAIA and JUCO) playing in the same tournament.
In Sunday's final, the participants traded service breaks to open the match before each held to knot it at 2-all. Jokic then held serve for a 3-2 advantage and then converted another break point opportunity for a 4-2 lead. In the seventh game, she fell behind 15-40 and got it back to deuce to force a deciding point with the no-ad format. Jokic won a lengthy rally to take a commanding 5-2 lead. After Fahey held, Jokic closed out the set 6-3. In the second set Fahey raced out to a 3-0 lead before Jokic stormed back to tie it up and then at 4-all, she broke Fahey again for a 5-4 advantage. The Wolverine broke back to make it 5-all and Jokic responded with a service break for a 6-5 lead. The set looked to be headed to a tiebreaker when Fahey took a 40-15 advantage but Jokic responded once again to get it back to deuce. She came through on championship point for a 6-3,7-5 victory.
"This was an amazing experience overall," said Jokic, "I won the tournament and had some tough matches, and I learned that I don't have to play the same game all the time. Also, I learned that I'm tougher than I actually thought I was. I was down 3-0 and that's not a good thing after winning the first set. I focused on the next point, I knew she was a tough player, and I had to keep fighting the whole match. No matter what happened each game, I just kept my focus on the next point."
"I'm so proud of Kat and the way she competed all week," Georgia associate head coach Drake Bernstein said. "Today was the pinnacle of it all. She was tested down 3-0 in the second set and fought back to 3-3. She was broken serving for the championship and bounced right back to get a break to make it 5-all. She was down 15-40 in the last game but she maintained a worker's mentality through the last point. This is a great step forward for her. We ended the fall with a lot of momentum. We look to continue to work to get ready for the dual match season."
Jokic's title marked the 11thindividual national championship in Georgia women's tennis history and the first for a Bulldog since Chelsey Gullickson won the 2010 NCAA singles title in Athens. Jokic went 31-8 last year playing in the top spot in the lineup to earn All-America honors along with ITA Southeast Regional Rookie of the Year, SEC Freshman of the Year and All-SEC First Team recognition.
# #
For more information on Georgia women's tennis, follow the team on Twitter @UGAWomensTennis, Instagram (@ugawomenstennis) and on Facebook (Georgia Women's Tennis).
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
Georgia Women's Tennis NCAAs Semifinals vs Texas A&M Postgame Press Conference
Sunday, May 17
Georgia Women's Tennis NCAAs Quarterfinals vs NC State Postgame Press Conference
Friday, May 15
Georgia Women's Tennis NCAA Super Regionals vs UCLA Recap
Friday, May 08
Georgia Women's Tennis NCAA Second Round vs. Charlotte Recap
Sunday, May 03