STANFORD, Calif. - It wasn't quite the kind of fulfillment of a dream that's made into a movie, but it was certainly a grand way to close out a career.
Wendy Fix entered the NCAA Women's Tennis Championships dreaming of ending her four-year Duke career by playing her way onto the 1997 All-American team. Considering Fix's relatively unspectacular No. 50 national ranking and that only the top 16 singles players in the country earn the distinction, the senior's chances seemed slim at best.
But by summoning her most focused effort of perhaps her entire career, Fix managed to play all the way to the quarterfinals of the 64-player tournament, not only fulfilling her dream, but climbing up to sixth place on the Blue Devils' all-time victories list in the process.
When asked to name the most outstanding memory of her four years, she delivered her answer before the question was finished.
"This tournament," Fix said. "I think of everything that was against me when I first came to Duke, and I don't think that there were many people who thought that I was capable of playing here. I knew there had to be a bright side to everything-a better end to it all. My goal was to be an All-American, my goal was to play with the best players and here I am. I could not be happier."
Fix's magical run ended at the hands of Florida's M.C. White, as the Gator freshman whipped the physically and emotionally spent Fix 6-2, 6-3. After three days of intense team competition and four matches in two days during the individual tournament, Fix simply could not muster the will to win one last time.
"I'm a little disappointed in [the match], but I had nothing to lose," Fix said. "I'm as proud and as I happy as I could be, but today I was just too worn down. I couldn't overcome being tired, usually you can fight with your legs and tell them to keep moving, but today I couldn't move as well.
"I was definitely emotionally and physically drained. Usually you can stay in the battle and grind out the long points, but I was just checking out early today."
The road to the round of eight was at times both menacing and generous. Fix's opening round match pitted her against one of the tournament's highest seeds, seventh-ranked Dawn Buth of Florida. At any other time in Fix's career, there would be few people who would have given her much of a chance against the fiery Gator junior, but it was already apparent that this could be a special week for Fix. Fix won all three of her singles matches in the team competition, culminating in a spectacular three-set win over Stanford's Katie Schlukebir, the nation's No. 1 player at the time.
With skill, focus and confidence all on her side, Fix battled back from a one-set deficit to knock off Buth. She continued to play the kind of "smart tennis"-as observed by both Duke coach Jamie Ashworth and Fix-that had worked so well against Schlukebir and proceeded to not only beat Buth, but essentially break her in the final set.
After slugging through two-and-a-half hours of doubles play with partner Kristin Sanderson later that afternoon, only to lose, the following day's match against UCLA's Katie Roubanova loomed ominously. Fix caught her first break of the tournament, however, as Roubanova defaulted just before the match with an injury.
Having secured All-American status, Fix refused to rest on her laurels as she downed Alabama's Baili Camino later that afternoon in three sets.
The end came almost as suddenly as the glory as White made quick work of Fix the next morning, ending the fairy tale before it became a bestseller. It seemed all right though. Wendy's dad packed up the camera with a sincere smile and strolled down to the court to give his daughter a hug.
As Fix left the stadium later that day, her last match seemed the furthest thing from her mind. The smile stretched across her face told everything. The ride was over, and it had been fun.
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