University of North Texas Athletics
Kononova Earns C-USA Athlete Of Week
4/10/2019 12:10:00 PM | Women's Tennis
DENTON — After a slow start to the spring season, senior Maria Kononova has roared back to being one of the elite tennis players not just in Conference USA but the country.
Having won 13 of her last 14 singles matches, Kononova is full throttle aiming to rein. On Wednesday, Kononova was honored for her success by being named the league's Tennis Athlete of the Week after another perfect week of tennis.
"I didn't like how I started the season," Kononova said. "So I knew I had to put a lot of work in to be where I want to be. I can see improvements in my game, as well as in my teammates' game."
Kononova played her final true road match for UNT (11-9) on Saturday at Memphis. The Russian not only picked up a nail-bitter of a victory, her singles win was the difference as the Mean Green beat the Tigers 4-3.
With all other matches completed, Kononova battled with her Memphis opponent back-and-forth, sending the first set and second set into a tiebreak.
After a strong start for North Texas, Memphis made a comeback in singles and put all the pressure on Kononova who came through once again.
Saturday wasn't her only performance of the week. The program's all-time winningest player also won on Wednesday at UT Arlington in one of the quickest matches of the year.
Kononove captured what was her 80th career win with a straight-set with a 6-2, 6-3 score. The match took less than an hour for Kononova to wrap up.
In addition to Kononova's singles success this week, she and doubles partner Tamuna Kutubidze were a perfect 2-0 this week, each time clinching the doubles point victory for the Mean Green who as a team have won over 65 percent of their doubles matches. Kononova and Kutubdize are 11-1 this spring.
In singles, Kononova has a league-best 14 wins and owns a 14-5 overall record.
North Texas hosts its final match of the year on Thursday at 4 p.m. against SMU. It will be the final home match for Kononova, Kutubidze and classmate Minying Liang. The Mean Green enter the match riding a two-match winning streak and aim to make a championship run in next week's conference tournament held in Houston.
"I think everyone made a step forward towards our ultimate goal," Kononova said. "I know that everybody will give everything they can in the conference tournament to win it, so it's going to be very exciting time."
Having won 13 of her last 14 singles matches, Kononova is full throttle aiming to rein. On Wednesday, Kononova was honored for her success by being named the league's Tennis Athlete of the Week after another perfect week of tennis.
"I didn't like how I started the season," Kononova said. "So I knew I had to put a lot of work in to be where I want to be. I can see improvements in my game, as well as in my teammates' game."
Kononova played her final true road match for UNT (11-9) on Saturday at Memphis. The Russian not only picked up a nail-bitter of a victory, her singles win was the difference as the Mean Green beat the Tigers 4-3.
With all other matches completed, Kononova battled with her Memphis opponent back-and-forth, sending the first set and second set into a tiebreak.
After a strong start for North Texas, Memphis made a comeback in singles and put all the pressure on Kononova who came through once again.
Saturday wasn't her only performance of the week. The program's all-time winningest player also won on Wednesday at UT Arlington in one of the quickest matches of the year.
Kononove captured what was her 80th career win with a straight-set with a 6-2, 6-3 score. The match took less than an hour for Kononova to wrap up.
In addition to Kononova's singles success this week, she and doubles partner Tamuna Kutubidze were a perfect 2-0 this week, each time clinching the doubles point victory for the Mean Green who as a team have won over 65 percent of their doubles matches. Kononova and Kutubdize are 11-1 this spring.
In singles, Kononova has a league-best 14 wins and owns a 14-5 overall record.
North Texas hosts its final match of the year on Thursday at 4 p.m. against SMU. It will be the final home match for Kononova, Kutubidze and classmate Minying Liang. The Mean Green enter the match riding a two-match winning streak and aim to make a championship run in next week's conference tournament held in Houston.
"I think everyone made a step forward towards our ultimate goal," Kononova said. "I know that everybody will give everything they can in the conference tournament to win it, so it's going to be very exciting time."
Players Mentioned
Friday, May 15
Monday, May 11
Saturday, April 18
Wednesday, April 15