Alabama tennis players Erin Routliffe and Maya Jansen already own back-to-back NCAA titles playing as a double team, but the duo is not stopping there.
Routliffe and Jansen won a preliminary tournament in Atlanta over the summer to earn a spot in the US Open National Playoffs in New Haven, Connecticut, which began Tuesday. The winners of the tournament will advance to the main draw of the US Open Women’s Doubles Championship after its conclusion on Friday.
Wednesday, the pair secured a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Liga Dekmeijere and Karina Traxler, allowing them to advance to the semifinals in the quest for a wild card spot in the 2015 US Open.
Jansen said she is enjoying the opportunity, but she is not letting it get too big for her.
“I think this is a more of a non-pressure just for fun kind of thing,” Jansen said. “So for me it’s much more of a cool experience.”
On Tuesday, the girls became one of eight teams to advance to the next round after winning their first match in straight sets against Yale’s Carol Finke and Ree Ree Li. Routliffe said the duo from Yale gave them a hard fought match that required the girls to overcome a 2-5 deficit in the second set.
“We were just super aggressive and like swinging and swinging hard, [and] trying to play our game on our terms like we always do,” Routliffe said.
On Tuesday, they found themselves warming up next to professional Agnieszka Radwańska. Routliffe said it was cool sharing facilities with someone they see on TV all the time.
“I guess that would be the goal to play next to people like that and eventually become one, but that’s in the future,” Routliffe said.
Jansen said that moment warming up next to Radwańska motivated her. Routliffe and Jansen might need that motivation as the competition should only get tougher going forward.
Jansen said there is a less pressure on her and Routliffe to win out here since there is no team depending on them, and contrary to what some might think, playing pros provides the duo with one advantage that they don’t have in college competition- obscurity.
“I don’t think any pros know who won the NCAA championship,” Jansen said. “I think we are able to more fly under the radar. People aren’t gearing up to play us — it’s just another match for them.”
