Podkolzina trips up No. 1 seed Dubois at Tinsley

By Whitey Reid

Published: May 1, 2008

For some players, such as the University of Virginia’s Somdev Devvarman or Treat Huey, college tennis is an amazing, unforgettable experience.
For others, it can be just the opposite.
Alexandra Podkolzina would fall into that category.
The three-time junior national champion, who was born in Moscow, arrived at Cal with the highest of
expectations.
Suffice to say, things didn’t work out the way she had hoped.
“The head coach at Cal…it was a bunch of [bleep],” Podkolzina said. “I’m not going to go into it, but it’s the best school. It’s the No. 1 public school in the country.”
That was precisely the reason that Podkolzina elected to stay at Cal, even after she had quit the team following her freshman season. Ever since, she’s been simultaneously pursuing a degree in English and a career in pro tennis.
On Wednesday afternoon at the Boar’s Head Sports Club, Podkolzina notched the biggest victory of her brief career. The 22-year-old upset No. 1 seed Stephanie Dubois 6-4, 2-6, 6-1, in the first round of the Boyd Tinsley USTA Women’s Pro Tennis Championships.
All match long, Podkolzina tantalized Dubois with drop shots.
“I definitely abused it today,” said Podkolzina, laughing. “I really like watching other people run. I’d hit one and then just watch.
“I have to remember that I need to move forward or do something afterward.”
After Dubois couldn’t get to one drop shot in the third set, she picked up the ball that had just barely trickled over the net and slammed it into the fence.
Podkolzina said she could tell Dubois was getting frustrated.
“I was thinking as long as I get her to run more, even if I lose the point, it’s still going to my advantage,” Podkolzina said.
In other matches on Wednesday, No. 2 seed Olga Puchkova advanced with a 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 victory over Neha Uberoi.
Meanwhile, No. 6 seed Varvara Lepchenko, a 2006 finalist at the event, retired from her match against Kimberly Couts due to injury.
With her win, Podkolzina advanced to face Alexandra Stevenson in a second-round match this afternoon. Podkolzina and Stevenson have split two previous meetings against one another.
Stevenson, the daughter of former NBA star Julius Erving, made it to the semifinals at Wimbledon in 1999. However, she’s tailed off since then and is now ranked 258th in the world.
Podkolzina grew up in Moscow before moving to Spain when she was 11 to train. After moving to the states, she briefly quit tennis before picking it back up after her parents moved to Northern California.
Todd Mitchell, who has trained Podkolzina for the last nine years, believes the coaches at Cal didn’t give his pupil what she needed.
“They over-trained her,” Mitchell said. “She was hurt all the time and they didn’t know how to deal with her.
“She’s not one of these typical girls that needs to play four, five, six hours a day. They didn’t have that figured out. She was pro material from the beginning, but she wanted to get an education, so she’s been pursuing both.”
Podkolzina, who says she might go to law school after she gives it her best shot on the tour, is set to graduate from Cal in two weeks.
“For the rest of the year the plan is to play and just see how it goes,” Podkolzina said, “and study for the LSAT between matches.”