The Intercollegiate Tennis Association should just stop the charade now.
Next year the ITA should properly rename the ITA Midwest Championships the Cristelle Grier Championships because the Wildcat sophomore has dominated the field in her two appearances.
The No. 4 nationally ranked Grier rolled through the field and won every one of her matches in straight sets en route to her second ITA Midwest Championships singles crown Saturday. In Tuesday’s finals, the top-seeded Grier never looked back as she pummeled her opponent, No. 2 seed Alicia Salas of Notre Dame, 6-2, 6-2, to move her overall record to 7-1 on the year. Last year Grier picked up her first ITA Midwest Championship by knocking off former teammate Marine Piriou.
“(Grier) is just really carrying off from her play last year,” Coach Claire Pollard said. “It was different for her last year when she snuck up on a lot of people, but now she has the reputation of the best in the region.
“She is a phenomenal player.”
But Grier was not satisfied with one championship over the weekend as she teamed up with senior Jessica Rush for a doubles crown Monday. The top-seeded pair only lost five games in their six matches to avenge last year’s narrow loss to Illinois’ Jennifer McGaffigan and Michelle Webb, 9-8 (4). In this year’s final, Grier and Rush toppled McGaffigan and Cynthya Goulet, 8-3.
“I thought coming into the week we had a chance to win both (the singles and doubles title), but I never expect to win,” Pollard said. “It’s always satisfying, though, and we are very grateful.”
The tandem of Grier and Rush have garnered attention wherever they have played. They are ranked No. 6 in the country and have been in the championship matches of the two biggest tournaments of the year.
“I don’t want people to overlook Rush on the team,” Pollard said. “They both contribute a lot and complement each other well.”
With a sweep over the weekend, the Cats have taken another step forward in the development of the women’s tennis program.
“Rush asked me the other day if I thought the program was any better than it was five years ago or if it was just standing still,” Pollard said. “After we won both the singles and doubles championships, I told Rush that the program is definitely getting better.”
With their performance over the weekend, the Cats qualified for the ITA National Indoor Championships in Dallas Nov. 6-9. This will be their biggest tournament of the fall and could serve as another spring board for the program.
