NCAA Women’s Tennis Championships : Stanford’s Fendick Beats USC’s Kuhlman Again

Stanford’s Patty Fendick shocked top-ranked Caroline Kuhlman of USC for the second time in three days Wednesday, sending Kuhlman to a 6-4, 6-4 loss in the quarterfinals of the NCAA women’s individual tennis championships.

Monday, Fendick snapped Kuhlman’s 30-match win streak, 7-5, 6-2, during the team championships. The Cardinal won the team title, and Fendick has won everything since.

Wednesday, Fendick went up, 2-0, in the first set and never allowed the USC sophomore to gain her rhythm.

“For Caroline, it must have been difficult to be up for this match after losing in the team finals,” said Fendick, a junior who entered the tournament seeded sixth. “Plus, she has played so many matches this year and had incredible results--being undefeated. Today, I took advantage of the fact that she likes to hit lots of strong shots on the run. I didn’t let her do that.”

Kuhlman said she had not seen Fendick play better.

“But I just didn’t have my timing. She kept the pressure on me the entire time. I served pretty well, but my backhand was off. I don’t think I was up to even 75% of my potential today.”