Texas women’s tennis won’t begin its official season until Jan. 15, 2027, when they face Loyola Marymount University. But in the meantime, the Longhorns will participate in a series of individual preseason events.
Texas began its offseason with the ITA All-American Championships, then played a series of ITF tournaments through September. The Longhorns continued into October with a crucial tournament, the ITF W100 Edmond Open in Oklahoma.
The tournament was the highest tier of the ITF World Tennis Tour and an official part of the USTA Australian Open Wild Card Challenge, meaning performances here can help Americans earn a main-draw spot in the 2027 Australian Open.
Junior Carmen Herea began the season ranked No. 2 in the collegiate singles category. After qualifying for the W100 Oklahoma tournament, Herea had to earn her way through the qualifying draw, where she lost to Russia’s Alina Shcherbinina 4-6, 6-2 in the second round.
Alongside Herea, junior Rose Marie Nijkamp also participated in the W100 Oklahoma tournament. Although she lost in the qualifying singles draw, she competed in doubles with fellow Netherlands native Arantxa Rus. After reaching the quarterfinals, Nijkamp and her doubles partner played on Friday, where they fell 2-6, 4-6.
In addition to the W100 Oklahoma, three Longhorns also participated in the W35 Redding California tournament last week. Freshman Arianna Zucchini participated alongside junior Salma Drugdova and sophomore Christasha McNeil.
Zucchini competed in singles and doubles but lost in the first round to Italy’s Francesca Pace. Meanwhile, Drugdova secured three singles wins in her tournament appearance. The junior defeated 2027 UC Berkeley commit Maria Aytoyan 7-6, 6-2 on Wednesday, followed by Thursday’s match where she defeated her fellow Longhorn McNeil 6-1, 6-1 in the singles second round, before falling 6-7, 1-6 against USA’s Lea Ma on Friday.
Drugdova and Zucchini teamed up this past week in the doubles tournament, reaching the quarterfinals. They faced Mexico’s Victoria Rodriguez and Ecuador’s Mell Elizabeth Reasco Gonzalez on Thursday evening and lost 3-6, 0-6.
The W35 tournaments help launch players into global tennis careers, including qualifying for elite events such as the Grand Slams.
Nijkamp left the tournament with a career-high WTA doubles ranking of 502 and a WTA singles ranking of 661. Herea finished with a doubles ranking of 685 and a career-high singles ranking of 468. Drugdova recorded a doubles ranking of 831 and a singles WTA ranking of 872. Zucchini accomplished a career-high doubles ranking of 561 and a singles rank of 579. McNeil concluded with a doubles ranking of 1062 and a singles ranking of 867.
The Longhorns will continue to compete in the coming weeks with tournaments in Bakersfield, Calif. and Sumter, South Carolina.
