2023 NCAA Championships: Reasco upsets Brantmeier as individual event begins

Rain was the story on Day 1 of individual singles play at the 2023 NCAA Championships, but thanks to some inspired performances by unseeded players against heavy favorites, it wasn't the top story. 

Three of the seven players who competed in Saturday's women's team final in the individual field were beaten in the first round, including No. 8 seed Reese Brantmeier of North Carolina, who was one of two Top-8 seeds to lose in the opening round. She fell 6-2, 2-6, 7-6(4) to University of Georgia sophomore Mell Reasco in a tense, three-setter in the heat of the day before rain came.

In the last edition of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's national rankings, released on May 4, Reasco was ranked No. 63 to Brantmeier's position of No. 8. 

"I think I didn't have much pressure. She had all the pressure." Reasco, a native of Quito, Ecuador, said afterwards. "Also, we played UNC three times this year. So I trusted my coaches, what they told me. I just stuck to the plan and just enjoyed the game. 

"I think my game was really bothering her because I'm lefty ... I feel like my game was really good for this match, so I just trusted it."

The Georgia Bulldogs, in fact, went 3-0 on Monday's first day of play in women's singles, and Reasco's two Top 10-seeded teammates, No. 3 seed Lea Ma and No. 4 seed Dasha Vidmanova, both were tested in three-set matches.

Ma beat Jessica Alsola of the University of California in her opener, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, while Czech native Vidmanova came from 6-4, 3-0 down to see off Kit Gulihur of the University of North Florida, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3.

The No. 1 seeds in each draw, Fiona Crawley of North Carolina and Eliot Spizzirri of Texas, cruised in their opening rounds. Outside, Crawley was a 6-4, 6-1 winner over Sara Dahlstrom of the University of Florida, while Spizzirri beat Tyler Stice of Auburn University, 6-2, 6-1 in an indoor match. 

After the match, Crawley revealed that the match was tougher than the scoreline, in that she had to reset mentally after the high of winning UNC's first-ever women's team national title on Saturday.

"I'm not going to lie, this is really hard for me, to come back after what was the best moment of my life and have to play singles," she said. "It's hard to switch your mindset and start playing for yourself again when we love each other so much, and the reason that we play is for each other. But at the end of the day, I do love tennis and once I go on court, I don't really know how to not try, so that's what gets me through."