Tennis star leaves for Duke

Andrew Finley
Published: Monday, June 27, 2005

In a year that ended with a heartbreaking loss, the start to the offseason hasn’t been any better for the UCLA women’s tennis team.

Junior All-American Daniela Bercek, who anchored the Bruins at the top singles position her first two years, decided earlier this month that she will transfer to Duke.

Bercek, who had contacted Blue Devils coach Jamie Ashworth back in January, is now waiting through an appeals process to determine whether she will have to sit out a year once she arrives in Durham.

Some of her teammates were surprised that she had even considered transferring. ”She didn’t tell us too much, so I don’t know what to say,” freshman Riza Zalameda said earlier this month. “It’s just between her and the coaches. It’s hard to imagine.”

Neither Bercek nor UCLA coach Stella Sampras Webster returned phone calls for this article.

Bercek, who won the NCAA Doubles Championships as a freshman, posted a 14-5 record in dual singles matches this year. Ranked tenth at the end of the year, she provided numerous clutch wins during her two seasons in Westwood. In 2004, she did not drop a match during the Bruins’ run to the NCAA finals, scoring the most memorable win in a three-set victory over Miami’s Megan Bradley – a win that moved UCLA into the semifinals.

In doubles, Bercek teamed with Zalameda, finishing this past year with a 15-3 record at the top spot and a No. 4 ranking.

“She’s a very good partner,” Zalameda said. “She’s very compatible. It’s going to be hard to make up for.”

Losing a player of Bercek’s caliber is not entirely a new phenomenon to the program. Three years ago, Bradley left UCLA after her All-American freshman year to be closer to her personal coach in Miami.

Bercek, in fact, becomes the sixth starter in the last four years to leave the program early, and though the reasons have all seemed to vary, it’s nevertheless a trend that has forced Sampras Webster to bring new players into the mix every year.

Two years ago, Susi Wild, a freshman who played No. 3 singles, quit tennis and returned to her native Germany according to the Bruin coach. Last year, the Bruins lost a trio of starters. Sophomores Jackie Carleton and Feriel Esseghir both had their scholarships revoked because of attitude-related problems, while redshirt junior Lauren Fisher opted to graduate with a year of eligibility left.

Bercek will now join Carleton at Duke, which lost to North Carolina in the NCAA Regionals this past year. According to Ashworth, Bercek had expressed some interest in attending Duke coming out of Novi Sad, Serbia in January 2004, but the school does not accept incoming students in the middle of the school year.

If she is eligible to play next year, she will likely be the highest-ranked player on a Duke squad that loses just one senior from the 2005 season.