May 21, 2003
Gainesville, Fla. – One of the greatest singles careers in UK women’s tennis history came to a close on Wednesday when senior Sarah Witten was defeated by Stanford’s Amber Liu in the NCAA Women’s Singles Championship round of 16 at Florida’s Ring Tennis Complex.
Witten, ranked 37th in the country, began the match in top form, taking the first game convincingly to go up 1-0 in the first set. In the second game Liu, who is ranked No. 4, was able to counter Witten’s strong ground attack and hold serve to tie the set at 1-1. Witten then took a 2-1 lead, but was unable to hold off the Stanford freshman as she broke the Wildcat leader’s serve to go up 3-2 and not look back on her way to taking the first set 6-2. In the second set, Witten was able to keep pace with Liu working her way to a 4-4 tie, but again the crafty Cardinal standout was able to dig deep and find a way to win the next two games and take the match with a 6-4 second-set victory.
“I’m a bit disappointed,” Witten said. “But Amber Liu is a very good player. I played the best I could and that’s all I can do. I’ve had a great career, I wish it was continuing tomorrow, but I’ll take what I can.”
Witten ends her collegiate singles career as one of the most successful women to ever play at UK. She finishes with a 99-62 record, an All-Southeastern Conference Team selection, an All-America Team selection and a top-40 national ranking. The majority of her career was spent at either the No. 1 or No. 2 singles position and she has been one of the key players in building the UK women’s tennis tradition.
“Today’s match was a very classy and professional match,” Coach Mark Guilbeau said. “These girls played at a very high level that was impressive to watch.
“Everything at UK over the last four years has gone directly through Sarah Witten. She has been our leader in both singles and doubles, and she has given this program the means and the ability to become a top-10 program.”
Witten’s singles career has ended but her doubles career is still rolling along. She and partner Amy Trefethen advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Doubles Championship with a victory over Texas’ 22nd-ranked duo of Ziva Grasic and Kendra Strohm. The Cats made quick work of the Longhorn duo, winning in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2. Witten and Trefethen will face top-ranked Erin Burdette and Lauren Barnikow of Stanford in tommorow’s match. Witten is very familiar with the Cardinal tandem. She and former partner Carolina Mayorga defeated the team in last year’s doubles championship and this year she and freshman Nathalie Roels dispatched the duo in last fall’s Omni Hotels/ITA All-American Tournament. The match is scheduled to be played at Noon. Fans can follow the action live at GatorZone.com.
