Alejandra Guerra’s hit ball lands just beyond the baseline to end the match in straight sets 6-1, 6-3.
The win moves her record to 4-0 in singles matches in the spring season without losing a single set.
The fast start in the spring is no surprise to coach Hans Olsen, though, given Guerra’s 12-4 fall singles record, which led the women’s tennis team in wins.
“She’s been developing well,” Olsen said. “And she’s obviously very talented.”
The only surprise is the records belong to a freshman.
Guerra is no ordinary freshman tennis player — she has been successful her entire life.
A native of Tamaulipas, Mexico, a state in the northern part of the country near the Texas border, Guerra won the 12-U, 14-U, 16-U and 18-U national championships and was the national runner-up in the 10-U division.
She was the Tamaulipas Player of the Year each year from 1995-2000, and she won five International Tennis Federation events, two in singles and three in doubles.
Guerra credits her early success to getting started at a young age.
“I used to go with my dad to the country club to play soccer and have fun,” Guerra said. “But when I was six, I picked up his [tennis] racket and started playing. That’s when I started to get into tennis. I wouldn’t leave the courts. My parents would have to come and get me.”
By the age of eight, Guerra was competing in national tournaments, and even though she says her dad got her started, she credits her coach, Estuardo Panameno, for teaching her how to play.
“[Panameno] made me a champion,” Guerra said.
In her sophomore year in high school, Guerra made the move to the United States and enrolled at Saddlebrook Prep, a private school and tennis academy near Tampa, Fla., a move Guerra said helped her mature.
“I had the opportunity to study in the United States and go to a tennis academy,” Guerra said. “And I think it helped me somehow. It helped me grow up.”
Olsen said the exposure Guerra gained at Saddlebrook Prep also helped get her to State.
“We tracked her results in high school in Florida,” Olsen said. “And then we had our assistant coach Mait DuBois fly down to Mexico and meet with her. From there we built a relationship.”
But the transition to being a college student hundreds of miles away from home has not been so easy.
“I’m really homesick,” Guerra said. “I talk to my mom like three times a day on the phone and my dad not that much, maybe once every other day. But I think that’s part of growing up. Being here at N.C. State is the best thing for me.”
One thing that has made her experience a positive one so far is a friendship Guerra has developed with senior teammate Barbara Orlay.
“She kind of reminds me of a young me,” Orlay, who is ranked No. 90 nationally, said. “We get along really well.”
The two combined for a 10-4 record in doubles in the fall and have found a special connection in the spring, too.
Orlay’s racket has a “G” that represents Guerra, and on Guerra’s racket there is an “O” that represents Orlay, together they are the “GO” doubles team.
Orlay said she believes Guerra has what it takes to “go” to the top.
“I think everybody is already looking up to her because she is really talented,” Orlay said. “[She] could definitely get a national ranking either this year or next year.”
Guerra’s teammates are not the only people who see lofty potential in her game.
“She’s learning a lot,” coach Olsen said. “She could be a really good college tennis player. I think anybody who watches Alejandra play says there is no limit to what she could do on the tennis court.”
