One match away from claiming her second singles title of the season, UF’s Anna Danilina came up one win short in Athens, Georgia.
Danilina, a senior on the Florida women’s tennis team, played for an ITA Southeast Regional Championships singles title on Monday morning against Katarina Jokic of Georgia.
Despite a higher seeding in the tournament, No. 2-seeded Danilina fell to the No. 7-seeded Bulldog in two sets, 6-4, 6-2.
In the first set, Danilina held a 4-2 lead, up one break, but Jokic was able to rally back with four straight game wins to take the opening set, 6-4. Jokic continued her strong play into the second, securing a 5-1 lead right off the bat.
Jokic went on to claim the title on her home court with a final score of 6-2 for the second set.
With her win over Danilina, Jokic became the third Bulldog to claim the singles title in the last three years. Jokic, a freshman, now has 18 wins and two losses overall in her singles career.
Danilina concluded her tournament play in Athens with notable wins against No. 8-seeded Marta Gonzalez of Georgia and No. 13-seeded Ksenia Kuznetsova of Central Florida.
Danilina, the singles runner-up for the regional tournament, claimed an automatic berth into the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships tournament in Indian Wells, California.
So far, no other Gators from the women’s tennis team have claimed an automatic bid for the ITA National Fall Championships, but there is a chance for senior Josie Kuhlman to obtain a bid at-large.
The fall championships will be held at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden and other resort locations throughout the tournament. Nov. 1 will mark the first day of competition for men’s singles and Nov. 3 will be the beginning of singles play for women.
The tournament will mark the end of the fall collegiate season and include 128 of the nation’s top singles players and 64 doubles teams, split evenly between men and women.
The event replaces the ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships tournament, in which the Gators reached the singles consolation quarterfinals match last season.
Those not competing in California will start competition at the Dick Vitale Intercollegiate Clay Court Classic on Nov. 3 at Lakewood Ranch, Florida.
Last season, Danilina captured the singles and doubles titles at the classic.
She fought her way through a singles match against Elena Cerezo-Codina of Virginia Tech to claim the singles title (6-3, 6-4) and then went on to take home the doubles title with her partner Spencer Liang against Constanza Gorches and Fernanda Navarro of Clemson (8-3).
The classic will mark the end of the fall season for the Gators, with tournament play starting back up in January for the spring season.
You can follow Mari Faiello on Twitter @faiello_mari, and contact her at mfaiello@alligator.org.
Anna Danilina watches the ball during the 2016 ITA Regional Championships at the Ring Tennis Complex.
