University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Women's Tennis to Open 2020 in The Bahamas
December 12, 2019 | Women's Tennis
NASSAU, The Bahamas – The UCLA women's tennis team will begin the new year in the West Indies, as Baha Mar Resort announced details of the inaugural Pink Flamingo Invitational Wednesday.
Matches will begin Friday, Jan. 10 and run through Sunday, Jan. 12 at the Baha Mar Tennis Club. The field also features Florida, Miami and Texas.
Players will take part in singles and doubles matches against counterparts from each of the three opposing teams across the three days. The Pink Flamingo Cup will be presented to the winner. The event is sanctioned by the ITA.
Each of the four participating programs finished the 2018-19 season listed in the top 25 of the ITA National Rankings. They are also similarly guided by veteran head coaches in 24th-year Stella Sampras Webster of UCLA, 24th-year Roland Thornqvist of Florida, 19th-year Paige Yaroshuk-Tews of Miami and 13th-year Howard Joffe of Texas. Six NCAA team championships have been won between them.
Thirteen players from teams in the field were slotted in the top 125 of the 2019-20 Final Fall ITA National Rankings, including defending NCAA singles champion Estela Perez-Somarriba of Miami.
Sophomore Elysia Bolton and redshirt senior Jada Hart of UCLA completed the fall as doubles champions at the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships in Newport Beach, Calif. The pair won five matches in five days, never dropping a set in the best-of-three-sets format. The run culminated in a 6-4, 6-3 defeat of top-ranked Anna Rogers and Alana Smith of NC State. Bolton/Hart saw its ranking rise to No. 2 after claiming the tournament's top spot.
Freshman Abbey Forbes and junior Annette Goulak also had standout falls for the Bruins, posting singles records of 12-2 and 10-2 respectively. Forbes went 6-2 versus nationally-ranked opponents, including a 7-6(3), 6-2 victory over Hart in the final round of the ITA Southwest Regional Championships. Goulak, a transfer from Georgia, claimed the Jack Kramer Club Collegiate Invitational title. Forbes (No. 6), Hart (9), Bolton (14), Goulak (99) and freshman Sasha Vagramov (108) appeared in the latest singles rankings.
Forbes and Goulak also teamed to win the Regionals doubles title, defeating the UCLA combination of junior Abi Altick and sophomore Taylor Johnson, 6-3, 6-4, in the final. Forbes/Goulak went 6-1 in the fall, while Bolton/Hart went 8-2 with three wins over nationally-ranked opponents.
Baha Mar Resort will offer special rates for everyone traveling to the Resort for this special event over the dates of November 9-12. The SLS Hotel is offering a discounted rate of $199 per night while the Grand Hyatt is offering a discounted rate of $179 per night. To book the special rate at the SLS, click here Pink Flamingo Invitational and to book the special rate at the Grand Hyatt, use the promo code G-FLAM when visiting Grand Hyatt Pink Flamingo Cup.
About Baha Mar
Baha Mar is a master planned $4.2 billion integrated resort development operated by Hong Kong-based conglomerate Chow Tai Fook Enterprises Limited (CTFE). The white sand beach destination includes three global brand operators – Grand Hyatt, SLS, and Rosewood – with over 2,300 rooms and 40 restaurants and lounges, the largest casino in the Caribbean, a state-of-the-art convention center, an 18-hole Jack Nicklaus Royal Blue Golf Course, the Caribbean's first and only flagship ESPA spa, and over 30 luxury retail outlets. Baha Mar is a breathtaking location with dynamic programming, activities and guest offerings in one of the most beautiful places in the world – The Bahamas. For more information and reservations, visit www.bahamar.com.
