Photograph by Lamar Jacaman for Texas Student Media
In a matchup of two wild cards working their way up the ranking ladder, Malaika Rapolu used her aggressive game and homecourt energy to defeat Karina Miller, 6-4, 6-2, in the championship match of the H-E-B Women’s Pro Tennis Open Sunday at the Texas Tennis Center in Austin.
Miller, 22, came into the match ranked a career-high 487, and Rapolu, 21, was No. 809, also a career high but slow going after their stellar college careers. With these results, Rapolu is expected to jump 245 places when the WTA rankings are released tomorrow, up to the mid-500’s. Miller is expected to be ranked No. 430. Rapolu earned $6,094 for her title, but in an even bigger boost to her career, she earned what she called an “amazing” wild card into the main draw of the ATX Open, a W250 in Austin in February.
Earlier in the week, rain had been forecast during the midday final in Austin. The rain held off as conditions were muggy and cloudy until the wind became another opponent for both players. But because of Rapolu’s stronger serve and groundstrokes, Miller was regularly on the defensive.
The players exchanged breaks early in the first set, then Rapolu broke Miller at 4-4 as the wind picked up at court. Rapolu’s power seemed to pin back Miller, who was broken at 15-40. Rapolu won the set with a wind-assisted serve into Miller’s body that she could not return.
Miller continued to struggle with the conditions and the aggressive-playing Rapolu, who raced to a 5-1 lead in the second set behind a flurry of crosscourt forehand winners. Down 2-5, Miller saved one match point with a forehand on the sideline that Rapolu couldn’t handle. The 21-year-old Texan soon righted things with her most potent shot, closing out the match with two forehands that weren’t coming back.
During her post-match interview, Malaika Rapolu again expressed gratitude about being able to play more matches at the Texas Tennis Center, where she played college ball for the Longhorns until this past May. The hometown favorite, who grew up in the north Austin suburb of Cedar Park, thanked the fans, many of them her family and friends: “I love you guys!”
Miller said she didn’t have “much expectations” here, especially after flying to Austin after reaching the quarterfinals of the W125 indoor event in Midland, Michigan. Reaching the final here, she said, “proved to me that I can compete at this level.”
It’s a new reality that both wild cards hope to build on.