If the other top-ranked women’s tennis players in the nation didn’t know about Northwestern’s Cristelle Grier, they certainly do now.
The freshman, ranked No. 16 in the nation, showed her competitors that she belonged among the country’s elite players this weekend as she defeated the No. 3 and No. 4 players in the country at the USTA/ITA National Indoor Championships in Madison, Wisc.
The Wildcats went 2-1 in the four-day tournament held at the A.C. Nielsen Tennis Center, losing to No. 7 Southern California before beating No. 28 Wake Forest and No. 11 Tennessee.
NU coach Claire Pollard said that she was not surprised to see Grier dominate against such strong competition. Grier, who hails from Surrey, England, hasn’t lost a set in singles play this year.
“We knew she was good when she arrived,” Pollard said, “We thought she was going to be one of the best players in the country.”
Grier said the toughest match of the tournament was against USC’s Jewel Peterson, ranked No. 3 nationally. The Trojan senior double-handed both the forehand and the backhand giving her shots exceptional power, but Grier found a way to escape an early 3-0 first-set deficit and capture the victory 6-4,6-1.
“I was wondering if I would win points, much less games.” Grier said, describing her struggle early in the match against Peterson.
Grier said the key to managing Peterson’s power was solid baseline play and forcing her opponent to hit a lot of shots. Aiming shots towards the middle of the court was also an effective tactic against Peterson, Grier said.
Even with Grier’s phenomenal play, the No. 14 Cats were eliminated from a shot at the Indoor championship after losing 3-4 to USC (4-0) in the first round of the tournament. Pollard called the loss to USC “unlucky,” but was pleased that her team rebounded to earn wins over Wake Forest and Tennessee.
In the consolation rounds NU (6-4) easily overpowered a much weaker Wake Forest team 6-1 on Friday, and then upset Tennessee 4-3 on Saturday. Junior Jessica Rush and freshman Jamie Peisel contributed wins in both matches.
The Indoor Championships have often served as a forecast for the NCAA tournament held in May. In the 12-year history of the tournament, nine of the finalists have gone on to win the national championship. This year, No. 4 Duke — which beat NU 5-2 on Jan. 18 — won the championship, beating No. 2 Florida 4-3 in the final.
Pollard said she wasn’t concerned by her team’s difficulty in winning close matches against such top-ranked teams. Along with USC and Duke, the Cats also lost a close match to No. 5 North Carolina earlier in the season.
“As long as there’s not a pattern to the losses, it’s a good sign,” Pollard said, “But at the same time it’s a more difficult problem to solve.”
Grier said that the experience the team gains in tournaments like these would help them against the top-ranked teams come May.
“You can’t always be losing 4-3,” Grier said, “The tables will turn.”
Up next for the Cats are visits to No. 34 Kentucky and No. 50 Indiana this weekend.
