MALIBU, Calif. – Washington State sophomore
Michaela Bayerlova opened her 2018 fall season with a strong performance at the 2018 Oracle/ITA Masters tournament played at the Malibu Racquet Club. Bayerlova began her day by teaming with Baylor's Sven Lah to post a 6-4 win over Belmont's Hendrik Inno and Austin Peay's Lidia Yanes Garcia. The duo made it two match victories in a row later Thursday afternoon following a 6-4 win over UNC Asheville's Henry Patten and Winthrop's Lauren Proctor. In singles play, Bayerlova, seeded No. 3, had little trouble in completing a 6-0, 6-2 win over Army's Ana Joyner. After sweeping the first set, Joyner took a 2-1 lead in the second before the Cougar sophomore won five-straight games to close out the match. Bayerlova plays her round of 16 match Wednesday against Harvard's Erica Oosterhout.
MOMENTS OF THE DAY
THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
- Bayerlova entered the match with an ITA preseason ranking of No. 17, the highest ranking by a Cougar player in program history.
- Last season Bayerlova won her first 20 matches as a collegian
- Bayerlova holds a current world ranking of 610, after reaching a career-best 579 in June of this year.
- Bayerlova resumes her play at the Oracle/ITA Masers Friday with a mixed doubles match at 10 a.m. followed by her singles match, which won't be before 12:30 p.m.
