Tennis player Borza competes with professionals

Junior Kristy Borza has overpowered the competition ever since she became the tennis team’s… Junior Kristy Borza has overpowered the competition ever since she became the tennis team’s No. 1 player as a freshman.

This fall, she became the fastest player in school history to reach 100 wins and is already tied for 6th on the Pitt career list with 110 total wins. That leaves her only 17 shy of becoming Pitt’s all-time most winning player.

With the collegiate level seemingly well in hand, Borza took aim at her toughest challenge yet, and as a result she can now say she’s beaten a professional player.

Borza fought off the nerves and won her first round qualifying match last Sunday in the 8th annual PNC International Tennis Classic at Monroeville’s Club4Life, defeating Mami Inoue 7-6(2), 4-6, 6-4.

“I was shaking at the start, I hit my first four shots straight into the net,” Borza said.

A win in the second round would’ve earned Borza a spot in the tournaments’ main draw but she was quickly dismantled 6-0, 6-2 by 8th seeded Petra Martic of Croatia.

She shouldn’t be too concerned.

The tournament is a United States Tennis Association Pro Circuit Event that perennially hosts some of the worlds best. This year, seven players ranked in the top 100 made the trip to play for the $75,000 dollar purse.

In years past, the PNC International has assisted the careers of many young upstart players, including two alumnae’s that would eventually go on and win grand slam events following their participation in Pittsburgh-one being a household name.

As a 15-year-old in 2002, Maria Sharapova ripped off seven wins and emerged as the tournament’s singles runner-up. Two years later Sharapova raised the Rosewater Dish as the women’s champion at Wimbledon.

Samantha Stosur also stopped in Monroeville on her way to a major victory. In 2004 she was a doubles finalist at the PNC, and just a year later she was the U.S. Open doubles champion.

Borza could potentially follow either girl’s lead: She participated in both events last week. After being defeated in the singles tournament, she used her wildcard status to enter the doubles qualifier where she teamed up with 17-year-old Russian Maria Mokh. Mokh too was defeated in the second round of singles competition and also didn’t have a partner, so the two affiliated.

“I’d never met her before,” Borza said. “I got her name off a list at the tournament desk and called her. Luckily she spoke enough English to say yes.”

In their first draw the unaccustomed duo were pinned against two of the best players in the tournament. Olga Govortsova, at No. 50 in the world, was the highest ranked player to participate in either event. Her partner Olga Poutchkova was also ranked in the world top 100, at No. 83.

Borza and Mokh gave the highly regarded pro’s all they could handle, winning the first set before eventually falling short 2-4, 4-1, 4-1. The match was a great benchmark.

“It was nice to be able to compare where I was with the 50th-ranked girl in the world,” Borza said. “People always ask me if I want to play pro after college and I always didn’t know, you can watch it on television but you don’t know what it’s really like. Now I know what it takes.

“I think it’s something I want to try to do, I see where I am and I see that I could eventually get there.”

But for now, Borza is still enrolled at Pitt, and that might be the most impressive part of her run against those who played for the check. As a part of the NCAA, she wasn’t eligible for the prize money had she won, but pride was reward enough.

“Being at the event, it made me proud that I was a student-athlete,” she said. “All the other players do is play tennis all day and then go to tournaments.”

Borza still has some business to take care of at Pitt before she decides if she’d like the same lifestyle. The Panthers’ schedule this year is arduous, but the confidence she gained at the PNC should prepare her and her team for what’s ahead.

“After having a win under my belt, beating somebody that’s been on the tour for a while, I feel like I can beat anybody in college,” Borza said.

Head tennis coach George Dieffenbach is proud of his ace and agrees that the experience will help Borza become an even better player than she already is.

“To have a great win against a strong player is a big boost for her confidence,” Dieffenbach said. “It will only make her better as she gets ready for the spring season coming up.”

Borza credits her family, and teammates as a major reason why she was able to pull the upset.

“It was really a group effort to get me there and get me eligible, I’m glad my first big tournament was in my hometown. It was just fun to have everyone there supporting me and it was just a fun experience cause everyone was excited.”

Having won a match this year it’s likely Borza will be invited back to the PNC International as a wild card again next year, and perhaps in the future she’ll be one of the pros being challenged by an upcoming tennis sensation.