CALOUNDRA, Australia – Sophomore standout Stefani Webb earned her first women’s professional title at the W15 Caloundra event on July 29, also advancing to her first professional singles final the following day. Webb became the first UCF women’s tennis player to win a professional title during her Knights tenure. Her first doubles title came with fellow Aussie Alicia Smith. The duo played together for the first time at a professional event and won eight consecutive sets in the march to the title.
We are so proud of Stefi and it is great that she was able to win her first professional doubles title and singles final in her home country. Stefi has an awesome support system back home who also believes in her and what she can accomplish. She is a tremendous competitor, and I am really excited for her fall semester and to be able to continue building her WTA ranking.
Bryan KonieckoHead Coach, UCF women's tennisThe first two rounds of the doubles event saw dominating victories for Webb and Smith, taking down the fourth-seeded tandem in the first round 6-4, 6-2, followed by a strong 6-3, 6-4 victory over Cassidy Mataia of Middle Tennessee State and Jasmine Adams of North Texas.
The semifinal matchup proved to be more difficult for Webb and partner, going head-to-head with the No. 2 seed duo of Anja and Sara Nayar. Breezing through the first set 6-3, the Nayar duo put up a bigger fight in the second, forcing a tiebreaker after exchanging serves to 6-6. Webb and Smith, determined to win their first title, kept pushing to take the set and the match 7-6(5).
The duo carried their confidence into the finals, where they faced the third seed of Nanari Katsumi and Zara Larke. Webb and Smith swiftly defeated the pair 6-1, 6-2 to claim their first title together.
In the singles portion of the tournament, the Knight faced a difficult matchup against top seed Kaylah Mcphee, rated No. 481 by the WTA. Webb stuck to her strengths and took down Mcphee in straight sets, 6-4, 7-6(3), to move on to the second round. Her second match of the singles tournament proved to be a breeze for the sophomore, who won with a strong 6-0, 6-3. Quarterfinals was more back and forth than the previous matches, but Webb still came out on top with a 6-4, 6-2 decision.
Webb dropped the first set of her tournament in the semifinals matchup to Ashlee Narker, who had earned a wild card into the tournament. After falling short in the first round by a score of 3-6, the sophomore kicked it into high gear to take the next two sets 7-6(2), 6-1 to advance to the first singles pro final of her career.
Her milestone run came to an end in the finals, where she fell by a score of 2-6, 5-7 to No. 2 seed Melisa Ercan, who is ranked No. 149 by the ITF.
The sophomore had a standout freshman season, collected two ranked wins, including one over the eighth-ranked doubles tandem from No. 7 NC State, and climbed as high at No. 57 in the ITA Doubles Rankings.