Tennis Sophomore Continues Singles Domination In Second Year On Team

The Lady Flames tennis team has not lost a conference match since starting ASUN play March 19, taking six straight wins in conference play. Even with the team starting to hit a rich vein of form, however, few players have shone like sophomore Esther Lovato this season. 

Lovato, who hails from Austin, Texas, has dominated in singles play, winning 20 of her 21 singles matchups on the season and continuing her hot streak as the most consistent singles player on Liberty’s team after winning 18 singles victories last year.

Lovato’s impressive start to her college career did not come as a surprise. In high school, she was ranked 57th in the country and was classified as a five-star recruit by TennisRecruiting.net. Since making the jump to collegiate sports, Lovato has continued to make an impact on the court. 

As a freshman, Lovato earned ASUN Player of the Week twice and was selected for the VaSID All-State singles second team. Lovato credited her teammates and coaches with her smooth transition to collegiate tennis.

“Coach Jeff Maren, (Giancarlo) Lemmi, (Rodney) Duncan and even the other girls on the team are always pushing me in practice,” Lovato said. “This year we have all become extremely close. We are genuinely like a big family, and that has helped me become better and help us win as a team.” 

Continuing to build on her strong performances from last year has required adapting her mentality, particularly after facing the challenges of a canceled season in her first year in college. Lovato believes that staying mentally strong has been key to continuing to win matches this year.   

“I think the main thing is the mental strength I’ve had on the court that has helped me a lot,” Lovato said. “Before I go into my matches, I don’t put pressure on myself to win. I go in with the mentality of I just want to play my best tennis and I don’t think about losing or playing badly. I just want to do my best.”

Lovato has been able to reap the benefits of her hard work.  She is currently 19-1 in singles matches  and 8-1 in doubles, with her only singles loss coming against VCU’s Alessia Ciuca. 

“It is a huge accomplishment for me, but I try not to keep up with it,” Lovato said. “Even though I am winning matches there is still so much more that I can improve on and I still don’t feel like I’ve reached my max yet. But it still makes me feel like my hard work is starting to pay off.”

Lovato’s consistency and dominance in singles matches has not gone unnoticed in the tennis world. 

On March 24, the Oracle/ITA Division 1 Women’s Singles Rankings released a list of the top 125 players in the country. Lovato acquired her first singles national ranking, listed as the 123rd player in the nation. She became the fourth tennis player in Liberty’s program history to receive this accolade.

“It’s awesome that I am able to accomplish these things here at Liberty,” Lovato said. “Being on that list for the fourth person in program history to be nationally ranked is awesome, and I hope I can continue to set records for Liberty.”

The Lady Flames will take on the Hokies in the new Liberty Indoor Tennis Center April 14. This will be the Lady Flames’ last regular season match.

Emmanuel Adamson is a Social Media Manager. Follow him on Twitter at @Eadamson12.