Oklahoma State freshman Arina Malygina made an immediate splash in her first Grand Slam appearance, winning four consecutive three-set matches at the US Open Junior Championships and becoming the only qualifier to reach the third round of the girls’ singles draw.
Oklahoma State freshman Arina Malygina hasn't even played her first dual match for the Cowgirls, but she's already making an impression on one of tennis' biggest stages.
Malygina put together an impressive run at the US Open Junior Championships in New York, advancing through qualifying and into the girls' singles main draw during her first Grand Slam appearance. And she didn't take an easy route to get there.
Malygina won four consecutive three-set matches between qualifying and the main draw, knocking off several of the world's highest-ranked junior players along the way.
Her qualifying run included victories over players ranked No. 97 and No. 76 in the junior world rankings, according to Oklahoma State Athletics.
Malygina then carried that momentum into the main draw. She opened with another three-set victory before taking down No. 15 seed Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi of India, who entered the tournament among the world's top 30 juniors.
Malygina defeated Rajeshwaran 6-3, 5-7, 7-5 in a match that lasted more than two hours, earning a spot in the third round. That set up another significant challenge against No. 2 seed Jana Kovackova of Czechia.
Malygina's US Open performance continued what has already been an impressive start to her Oklahoma State career. The freshman made an immediate impact in Stillwater before traveling to New York.
At the UTR Shootout Stillwater in late August, Malygina went 4-0 in singles and won the tournament, defeating three Tulsa players before beating fellow Cowgirl Veronika Kliuch 6-3, 6-3 in the final.
She won her first eight sets of that event without dropping one. Now she's followed that performance by proving herself against some of the best junior players in the world.
Malygina had to survive adversity throughout her US Open run, too. Against Marianne Ángel in qualifying, she dropped the opening set before responding to win the second and eventually taking the match in a deciding match tiebreak. Ángel entered the match ranked inside the world's top 100 juniors.
It became part of a remarkable trend. Four straight matches. Four straight deciding sets. Four straight victories.
For Oklahoma State, the performance offers an early glimpse at what Malygina could bring to Chris Young's program. The Cowgirls have established themselves among the nation's premier women's tennis programs in recent years, and their newest freshman has already shown she can compete against elite international competition.
Malygina hasn't even reached the heart of her first collegiate season yet. She's already introduced herself on a Grand Slam stage.
