3x slam quarterfinalist Gretchen Rush on the evolution of college tennis
Description
Gretchen Rush was a 4x All-American at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. At Trinity, she won the NCAA doubles title in 1983, made two NCAA singles finals, and helped the Tigers make four straight NCAA semifinal appearances. Rush made two slam singles quarterfinals and competed for Team USA at the 1984 Olympics while enrolled at Trinity. Rush would later make the mixed doubles Wimbledon final in 1988 and the singles quarterfinal in 1989.
Rush was one of the early pioneers for a women's college player in the NCAA era having success on tour so she joins the show to discuss balancing college and pro tennis, and provides her reflections on the sport that's given her so much. Topics include:
- Choosing pro vs. college route
- Why she chose Trinity and how a small school in Texas could compete against Stanford and UCLA
- Why she finished her four years at Trinity despite making the French Open quarterfinal in the same year she won the NCAA doubles title
- The transition from NAIAW to NCAA for women's tennis
- Differences between college tennis in the 1980s vs. 2020s
- Playing on center court Wimbledon against Navratilova, and what it means to represent Team USA at the Olympics
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