TEMPE, AZ. – There are not too many former collegiate tennis players who have put together a better fall season than that of North Carolina junior, Fiona Crawley this fall who went unbeaten while winning the ITA Women’s All-American Championships and ITA National Fall Championships.
As one of the hardest players to take down in college tennis these past two seasons, Crawley took her game to an even higher level heading into the 2022-23 season, showing that she can go toe-to-toe with any player in the nation this fall.
Setting the tone at the Fall Ranked Spotlight hosted by NC State, Crawley ran through a talented field of players in the A-1 Draw of the tournament which featured four of the top five players in the ITA Collegiate Tennis Preseason Singles Rankings sponsored by Tennis-Point.
Beating four ranked players and two seeded players en route to the Fall Ranked Spotlight Championship, Crawley’s run was highlighted with a win over the preseason No. 1, Eryn Cayetano (USC) as well as a straight-set win over Madison Sieg (USC) who finished right behind Crawley at No. 2 in the ITA Collegiate Tennis Rankings to end the fall.
Following that performance up just a few weeks later at the ITA Women’s All-American Championships, Crawley came in as an unseeded player in the main draw but quickly made waves taking down Laia Conde Monfort (Tulsa) in the opening round before bouncing the top-seed Sarah Hamner (South Carolina) in the Round of 16.
Facing Mary Stoiana (Texas A&M) in the Quarterfinals, Crawley was taken to a third set for the first time all fall, but handled the pressure, winning 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 in the match. It was an all Tar Heel affair in the Semifinals as Crawley bested teammate Carson Tanguilig 6-3, 6-3 to move on to the Finals.
Looking to secure her first individual National Championship, Crawley showed poise from the first serve to the last, beating Kylie Collins (LSU) 6-3, 6-2 in front of many North Carolina faithful in attendance at the Cary Tennis Park.
Crawley then turned her attention to the ITA National Fall Championships in San Diego where she would enter the tournament as the No. 1 seed, looking to make history as the first player to win both the All-American Championships and Fall Championship in the same year since 2016.
Starting the tournament with four straight-set victories, Crawley would only lose 15 games over 63 games, dominating the competition that featured a vast majority of the nation’s top singles players.
After this dominant run, Crawley found herself once again in a National Final as she was set to face off with the 2021 ITA National Fall Championship Runner-Up, Daria Frayman (Princeton) in the Final.
As two of the toughest players to beat in all of college tennis, this Championship match tested everything for both players as Crawley took the first set before Frayman bounced right back in the second set to force a decisive third set.
In the third set, both players would trade blows throughout before Crawley was able to find some separation towards the end, winning 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 over Frayman for her second singles National Championship of the fall.
Across all competitions this fall, Crawley totaled an unbeaten 17-0 record with 12 of those wins coming over ranked opponents. Crawley ended the fall not only as the No. 1 ranked singles player in the nation but also as the No. 1 ranked doubles player, going 9-1 with Tanguilig this past fall.
Crawley now holds a career 94-8 singles record at North Carolina, and recently even took her talents overseas where she brought back gold with Team USA at the 2022 Master’U BNP Paribas Championships in France.
As we head to the spring, Crawley is sure to be an integral part of the Tar Heel team that is once again loaded with talent. North Carolina currently has five players ranked in the Top 50 of the ITA Collegiate Tennis Singles Rankings, with hopes of claiming their first NCAA National Championship as a team in 2023.
Fiona Crawley Fall Singles Results
Furman Fall Classic
- def Alexandra Mikhailuk (Mississippi State), 6-0, 6-1
- def Anna Brylin (Wake Forest), 6-3, 6-1
Fall Ranked Spotlight
- def #61 Ariana Arseneault (Auburn), 6-3, 6-4
- def #19 Alexa Noel (Miami), 6-2, 6-2
- def #1 Eryn Cayetano (USC), 6-2, 6-1
- def #51 Sydni Ratliff (Ohio St), 6-2, 6-1
- def Maddy Sieg (USC), 6-4, 6-0
ITA Women’s All-American Championships
- def #102 Laia Conde Monfort (Tulsa), 6-1, 6-0
- def #2 Sarah Hamner (South Carolina), 6-3, 6-4
- def #58 Mary Stoiana (Texas A&M), 3-6, 6-1, 6-2
- def #28 Carson Tanguilig (North Carolina), 6-3, 6-3
- def #24 Kylie Collins (LSU), 6-3, 6-2
ITA National Fall Championships
- def Daria Kuczer (Tennessee), 6-2, 6-3
- def Taylor Melville (Denver), 6-3, 6-0
- def #58 Mary Stoiana (Texas A&M), 6-4, 6-4
- def #16 Carol Lee (Georgia Tech), 6-1, 6-0
- def #3 Daria Frayman (Princeton), 6-3, 4-6, 6-3
