University of Alabama senior Alexa Guarachi, along with partner Mary Anne Macfarlane, will enter their spring season ranked No. 2 in doubles for NCAA tennis.
Guarachi is familiar with this title. It is the second time in her four years at the Capstone she and her partner have been ranked as the No. 2 doubles pair in the nation entering a season. The first time came during Guarachi’s freshman year in 2010. She joined up with then partner Courtney McLane, and the two made it to the NCAA Championship round of 16 before being defeated by a pair from Stanford.
This will be the first spring season Guarachi and Macfarlane have teamed up to play doubles together. The partnership with Macfarlane, a junior, is different than the one Guarachi shared with McLane in 2010. While McLane’s strengths were at the serve and at the net, Guarachi said, Macfarlane is steadier from the base line and is better able to set her partner up at the net.
“Overall, [Macfarlane] is more consistent than Courtney,” Guarachi said. “I feel like we’ll have more consistent results.”
Head coach Jenny Mainz said she has seen Guarachi improve tremendously since the 2010 season. Mainz spoke of the maturity Guarachi has gained and her ability to find her stride over the past three years.
Guarachi and Macfarlane’s chemistry as partners leads her to expect a lot from them this season, Mainz said. The two balance and learn from each other and their skills have allowed them to be front runners not only on the team and in the Southeastern Conference but on the national level as well.
“Alexa’s playing as well as I’ve ever seen her play,” Mainz said. “Mary Anne has played at the top of our line-up as a freshman and as a sophomore. They’re both leaders. They’re great players. We’re as good as anyone in the country with the two of them.”
Macfarlane said her friendship with Guarachi has helped the dynamic of the partnership. The senior’s level head and intensity are two qualities Mcfarlane said have helped her and her doubles partners achieve a high ranking.
“She’s tough at the baseline and at the net, which can be intimidating,” Guarachi said. “We just have to go out hard against our opponents and we can be really successful.”
While Guarachi said she has no doubt she and Macfarlane have the ability to beat any pair they go up against, she is taking the season one match at a time in hopes of ending the season as well as the pair is going into it.
“In the beginning it’s cool to be ranked like that,” Guarachi said. “But obviously it’s better to finish the year like that so we’ve got to keep it up.”
