You wouldn’t know it from asking her, but freshman Audra Cohen is on the cusp of becoming a different No. 1.
“I guess you could say it’s exciting,” Cohen said. “But in the end it’s just a number.”
If Cohen wins her singles match today when No. 3 Northwestern (17-2) hosts No. 26 Notre Dame (11-8), she will tie the school single-season wins record of 40. Cohen is 39-4 this year.
The current record was set last year by none other than Cohen’s doubles partner, Cristelle Grier. Cohen will finish the season having played more matches than Grier because she played an All-American tournament in the fall, but Grier is not envious of her younger counterpart.
“It can only be seen as a good thing,” Grier said. “Anyone who can win that many matches, I’m glad to have her on our team.”
Not to be outdone, Grier was named the Big Ten Athlete of the Week on Thursday. It is the fourth time in her career she has been so honored. She is the second straight Wildcat to win the award, as Alexis Prousis won the honor last week.
Grier and Cohen have an understanding that their work together on the court is more important than their personal accolades off it. The two have a noticeably strong rapport that has propelled them to a nearly season-long run as the No. 1 tandem in the country.
“I think it’s founded upon a deep respect,” coach Claire Pollard said. “A really great respect for what each other has and maybe they both need a little of.”
The pair will be put to the test today, facing a top-15 opponent for the first time in two months, in Catrina and Christian Thompson. As the No. 4-ranked team in America, the twin sisters are the Fighting Irish’s top doubles team. When Cohen and Grier briefly lost their No. 1 status earlier this season, it was to the Thompsons.
“The Thompson twins have that sort of twin second sense,” Pollard said. “They’re going to be all over the court and you’re going to see them be all in bizarre positions, but they tend to know what each other’s always doing.”
In spite of the Thompson’s apparent telepathy, Cohen and Grier are hardly fazed.
“We’ll know what we have to do to beat them,” Cohen said. “Because they’re sisters and they’re very close, they tend to mentally self-destruct … You can get one to hate the other.”
The Thompson twins are not the only challenge on the slate for the Cats today. All three of Notre Dame’s doubles teams have won more than 20 matches.
Notre Dame has also won its last three matches, including an upset of then-No. 16 William and Mary last week.
The Irish will be looking to avenge a 4-1 loss to the Cats in last year’s NCAA Regional championships. NU has beaten Notre Dame in five straight matches, and the two teams are widely considered to be among the best in the Midwest in recent years.
While today’s match may put Cohen’s name in the record books, it is merely the beginning of her young career.
“She’s ambitious, yet she really struggles with change,” Pollard said. “She gets caught in the moment, and so I think it’s going to be really up to her … I think she’ll dominate college tennis for four years.”
Reach David Kalan at [email protected]
