Last year, Vanessa Webb used a Grand Slam title at the Riviera All-American as a coming out of sorts, splashing onto the center stage of Division I women's tennis and attaining a subsequent number one ranking in the fall season.
Last weekend, the third-ranked junior traveled to Los Angeles looking to defend the second leg of the Grand Slam at the Riviera Tennis Club. But Mirela Vladulescu, an upstart from Alabama-Birmingham who won the Clay Courts earlier this month, denied Webb the opportunity in the semifinals with a 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-5) triumph.
Vladulescu went on to win her second-straight Grand Slam title, while Webb's singles record on the year fell to 12-2.
Webb led 5-2 in the first set before Vladulescu rallied to take four of the next five games and force the first tiebreaker. In the second set, the two stayed on serve until the decisive tiebreak that sent Vladulescu to the finals.
"She just came up with huge passing shots on key points," Webb said of Vladulescu. "She's tough. It's disappointing, but I didn't play badly."
Webb, the fifth seed in singles, had to play nearly five hours of tennis on Friday just to reach Saturday's semifinals. She disposed of California's Esther Knox easily, 6-3, 6-0, in the second round but faced a challenge in the quarters against Texas' Cristina Moros.
Moros, the third seed, pushed Webb for three-and-a-half hours before finally succumbing 6-7 (7-1), 7-5, 7-6 (7-5). Webb actually led in the first set, 5-3, but felt she stopped playing her game as Moros rallied for the one-set lead.
In the second set, Webb had two set points on her serve at 5-4, but Moros broke it, forcing Duke's top seed to win two more games. Webb did just that and then took the final set in a tiebreaker.
"We play really similar styles," Webb said. "Our serves are our strength. She plays aggressive, and it was really close. It's the longest match I've played in a long time."
Despite the length of the match, Webb doesn't feel it was too big a factor in her loss to Vladulescu the following day.
Duke's other participants in the Championships didn't last as long. Junior Kristin Sanderson lost in the fourth round of the qualifying singles back draw in an 8-6, third-set tiebreaker. Fellow junior Karen Goldstein fell one win short of qualifying for the main Championship draw when she lost to Tulsa's Anousjka Van Exel 7-6 (7-2), 6-2.
In doubles, Webb and Sanderson teamed together, but the pair was derailed in the third round of qualifiers by UNLV's Kocsis and Garvin, 6-3, 6-1.
The Blue Devils play in the Rolex Indoor Qualifiers, their last event of the fall season, this weekend at UNC.
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