For the last few minutes of practice, Natalia Maynetto stepped up against teammate Maya Jansen, ready to face off against her friend. At 5 feet 6 inches, Maynetto had to look up at her opponent, but that didn’t concern her. With a smile on her face, she was ready for the serve.

Four short volleys later, Maynetto ended the practice with a victory. The sophomore is used to ending the day with a win, though she humbly said there’s always room for improvement. Maynetto has won six of the last seven singles matchups this season.

“Well I think it was a lot of how I was brought up,” Maynetto said. “My dad is my coach. He played for Clemson. I was brought up to never take things for granted. I’ve learned so much from [coach Jenny Mainz] and she’s always saying we’re never satisfied, there’s always room for improvement. I think you can always keep accomplishing more. It’s also how I like to handle the [matches], always shoot for more and just be grateful for what you have.”

The Crimson Tide will host Virginia at the Roberta A. Baumgardner Indoor Tennis Facility for the last match of the ITA National Championship on Saturday. Alabama faced Virginia last weekend but lost 4-1.

(See also, “Tide women’s tennis team takes down Georgia State“)

As a freshman, Maynetto was one of six players on the team. She went undefeated in SEC competition, 10-0, and went all the way to the NCAA Championships. With all her early success, Maynetto said it was hard to deal with the pressure to succeed.

“It was tough because everyone was like you never lose, you never lose a match,” Maynetto said. “Obviously I had that in my head. Every match I was about to play, I would try not to think about it, I would just try to focus on that match. I think that helped a lot because as the season went on everybody said, ‘You’re 9-0.’ And I was just like, ‘I’m just going to try and focus on this match.’ For me, if I was caught up in it, it would have distracted me but it was tough. I definitely had to battle staying focused.”

Originally from Naples, Fla., Maynetto was ranked No. 17 in the country before being recruited by Mainz. Mainz said Maynetto’s aggression really peaked her interest.

(See also, “Natalia Maynetto earns SEC Freshman of the Week honors for women’s tennis“)

“The first time I ever saw her play was in Birmingham at a clay court tournament,” Mainz said. “It was the way she competed, it wasn’t necessarily her forehand or her backhand, but it was just her tenacity, her feistiness, the way she competed. It was on clay, so the points are more of a struggle. You have to work harder on clay to set points up. But I love the way she competed. She’s a ferocious competitor. She is ferocious.”

(See also, “Women’s tennis team looking to stay undefeated“)