Auburn Women's Tennis player Fani Chifchieva, junior from Plovdiv, Bulgaria, competed in the ITA Indoor National Tournament Nov. 5 in New Haven, Conn.
Chifchieva lost her first round matchup to the No. 2 seeded Irina Falconi of Georgia Tech.
After dropping the first set 6-0 to Falconi, the three-time All-American and 2009 ITA Southern Regional Champion held a 3-0 advantage in the second set.
Chifchieva's opponent sent the second set into a tie-breaker that Chifchieva dropped 7-3 to fall into the consolation bracket.
"It was awesome, I was very happy," Chifchieva said about winning the SEC Regional Championship. "I was off for a long time, but I'm very proud I was the first one in history."
Chifchieva said her experience at the SEC Regional Championship prepared her for the ITA Indoor National Tournament.
"Winning the SEC Regional Title had prepared me for this tournament," Chifchieva said. "Even though I didn't have that great of a result, I think I am playing better than I was at the beginning of the semester. My game is getting back on track."
Chifchieva was a 2007-2008 ITA All-American, 2008 SEC Women's Tennis Athlete of the Year, 2007-2008 First-Team All-SEC and the 2007 ITA South Region Freshman of the Year.
Chifchieva's head coach Tim Gray said her opponents were some of the toughest she has faced yet in a match.
"Fani played a very tough opponent today and after an extremely slow start, got it going," Gray said. "She didn't finish the job in the second set after going up 3-0, and at this level, if you don't finish the job, these players are so good that they will come storming back and that's exactly what happened today."
Chifchieva lost her first round consolation matchup, falling to Yale's Stephanie Kent 7-6 (5), 6-4 Nov. 6.
The three-time All-American fell behind early in the first set against Kent trailing 4-1 through the first five games of set two.
"The competition was hard," Chifchieva said. "I played with the No. 2 seed and it was a tough draw. I had a chance in the second set, but I just couldn't win the second set. I get a lot more experience I've never had playing the No. 2 seed. "
However, Chifchieva came back, winning four straight games to tie the set at 5-5 and forced a tie-break that she dropped 5-0 to lose the set 7-6 (5).
"I wish I could have won the second set, then maybe things would have turned out differently," Chifchieva said.
The second set saw Chifchieva, fall behind 4-1 trying to cut Kent's lead to 5-4, but ultimately she lost the second and deciding set, 6-4.
"I played OK in this tournament," Chifchieva said. "I could have been more aggressive and maybe hit some deeper shots so my opponent wouldn't have had as much place to back."
Chifchieva's loss in the tournament wraps up Auburn's 2009 fall schedule.
The women's tennis team will begin its spring season beginning Jan. 30-31 at the ITA National Team Qualifier in Los Angeles, Calif.
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