Photograph by Lamar Jacaman for Texas Student Media
Malaika Rapolu, pictured above, and Karina Miller are both relatively new in their pro tennis careers. They each played college tennis in their hometowns. They each received a wild card into the singles’ main draw singles of the H-E-B Women’s Pro Tennis Open. And there’s one more important similarity: they are facing each other on Sunday in the championship match at the Texas Tennis Center. The final starts at noon.
Miller and Rapolu each won their semifinals in three sets but closed their matches in contrasting styles. Miller, a 22-year-old Ann Arbor native who starred at the University of Michigan, outlasted Whitney Osiugwe, 6-1, 4-6, 7-5, in a final set that overflowed with breaks. Rapolu, a recent University of Texas grad who grew up in the Austin suburb of Cedar Park, ultimately ran away with a 2-6, 6-4, 6-0 victory over Haruka Kaji of Japan.
Osuigwe, a 22-year-old Floridian, broke Miller to serve for the match at 5-4. But she was broken after double-faulting then hitting a backhand long. At 5-5, 0-30, Miller looked as if she might suffer a similar fate but held on. In one of the shortest games of the last two sets, Osuigwe lost four straight points to end the match. Miller is at her career-high ranking of No. 487.
Rapolu, 21, looked out of sorts in the first set as the 30-year-old Kaji, ranked No. 275, looked as if she might reach her fourth singles final of the year. Rapolu scored a break late in the second set and never looked back. Kaji did put a fight serving at 0-4, but Rapolu eventually broke to win that marathon game. In a rare occurrence in the semifinals, Rapolu served an ace down the line to close the match. She is also at her career-high ranking, No. 809.
Playing together in their first tournament, Diae El Jardi of Morocco and Thiasa Grana Pedretti of Brazil won the doubles championship by defeating the top-seeded team of Whitney Osuigwe and Alana Smith, 6-2, 4-6, 14-12, on Saturday. El Jardi and Pedretti were down 7-3 to the more experienced American pair in the championship tiebreak before they rallied.