Elena Gantcheva
| School: |
UNLV |
| Year: |
Senior |
| Home Town: |
Sofia |
| Home State: |
N/A |
| Home Country: |
United States(USA) |
| High School: |
Stoychev Sports School |
| Height: |
5-8 |
| Weight: |
|
| Birth Date: |
|
| Dominant Hand: |
Right |
| Major: |
|
| Singles Record: |
112-37 |
| Doubles Record: |
79-38 |
*2006 & 2007 MWC Player of the Year**2007 UNLV SportsWoman of the Year**2007 ITA West Regional Singles Co-Champion**2006 ITA All-America**2007 NCAA Doubles participant*
AT UNLV: One of the elite players in all of college tennis who may go down as the best-ever at UNLV ... The third All-American and second two-time conference MVP in Lady Rebel history ... Finished junior season already ranked third in all-time wins at the school with 83 ... Also heads into final year No. 8 on UNLV's career doubles wins list with 54 ... Needs just eight more to move into the top five and 18 would put her into second ... Finished her third season with a career singles winning percentage of .761, which ranks second at UNLV, and all-time doubles percentage of .659, which ranks fourth ... The second-ever Lady Rebel -- along with Marianne Vallin -- to earn a top-10 singles ranking after sitting at a career-high No. 8 in January 2006 ... When she and doubles partner Kristina Nedeltcheva earned a national ranking of fifth in the fall, Gantcheva became the only women's player in UNLV history to earn a top-10 ranking in both singles and doubles during her career ... Also the only Lady Rebel to ever be named conference player of the week five times in career ... Regaining her mastery in the fall tournament season as a senior, Gantcheva won two singles tournaments in building a 9-4 record ... Best win of fall was an upset of No. 18 Tracy Lin of UCLA in Round of 16 at ITA Regional ... Gantcheva went on to win her school's first-ever singles crown at an ITA event ... Named co-champ of the West Region after California wildfires forced the cancellation of the final in San Diego ... Gantcheva improved her career ITA Regional singles record to a stunning 14-2 ... Won her third career singles title of her program's home event by downing teammate Katy Williams 6-1, 6-3 at UNLV Invite in September ... Heads into spring ranked 30th and holding an impressive 37-23 all-time record vs. ranked opponents ... Solidified her world-class credentials when, after earning a wild-card entry into Las Vegas' WTF Mirage Cup professional tournament, she shocked the field by defeating Jill Craybas -- the 52nd-ranked player in the world -- 6-2, 7-6 -- at the Darling Tennis Center on March 1, 2006 ... Later lost to Angela Haynes in the Round of 16 ... A top student that has earned Academic All-MWC honors the last two years.
2007: Struggled with injuries but still was successful enough to be voted Co-MWC Player of the Year after junior campaign that saw her post 8-3 mark vs. league opponents ... Also named UNLV SportsWoman of the Year, the first netter to earn the distinction since 2000 ... Finished uneven year ranked 75th with a 19-8 overall record, including an 18-7 mark at No. 1 singles spot for NCAA-bound Lady Rebels ... Named MWC Player of the Week March 24 and April 4 ... Picked up five more wins over ranked opponents ... Biggest victory of season came in a 7-6, 6-1 upset of Stanford's 11th-ranked Theresa Logar on March 28 ... Downed No. 99 Nina Munch Soegaard of TCU in semifinals of MWC tournament ... Voted first team All-MWC in singles and doubles ... Part of record-breaking doubles team (24-4) with Kristina Nedeltcheva that earned bid to NCAA Doubles Championship and became only second duo in UNLV history to advance past first round ... Shocked third-seeded Whitney McCray and Kristi Miller of national champion Georgia Tech 6-2, 6-2 before falling in the Round of 16 ... Final record together included 6-2 mark vs. ranked opponents ... Downed three duos that finished ranked ahead of them in the final poll (No. 3 from TCU, No. 6 from Georgia Tech and No. 13 from Stanford) ... Best win in regular season was an 8-5 upset of then-No. 6 Cetnik and Sydorska of TCU on April 1 ... Began fall season ranked No. 13 in singles but a wrist injury limited her to only one tournament, where she went 0-2 at All-American Championships ...
2006: Became the second Lady Rebel to ever finish a season in the nation's top 20 with a No. 17 ranking ... Rolled to a 33-9 overall record, which tied for the fourth-most single-season wins ... Named all-conference in singles for second straight year and the Mountain West Conference Player of the Year after sweeping eight league opponents ... Won 11 straight matches and an incredible 18 straight sets to end her dual-match season ... Faced 25 ranked opponents and defeated 18 of them, including going 5-0 vs. ranked MWC competition ... Twice downed BYU's Olga Boulytcheva, who was ranked 18th and then 24th during their spring meetings ... Played in the NCAA singles championship for the first time and was the second UNLV woman ever to earn a seed ... Despite being seeded, she drew 18th-ranked Lindsey Nelson of USC in the first round and the Trojans' star won 6-2, 6-4 ... Earned a preseason fall ranking of 24 and proceeded to go on a tourney run that was only rivaled by her freshman effort ... Went 15-4 and won two titles ... Opened autumn by winning UNLV Fall Invite in September ... Went 6-2 at Riviera All-American Classic in October to win the prestigious event's consolation bracket, including downing four top-25 players in three days ... Upset No. 6 Shadisha Robinson of Georgia 6-3, 6-2 in the semifinals and then shocked the nation's top-ranked player, Jennifer Magley of Florida, 6-0, 7-5, on Oct. 9 for the consolation crown and became the first woman in school history to defeat a No. 1 opponent ... Later that month, became the first Lady Rebel in history to reach the finals of the ITA Regional before losing to USC's Amanda Fink in the championship ... Became second UNLV woman and first since 1994 to earn a spot in prestigious ITA National Indoors tourney in Columbus, Ohio, and won her first-round match before falling in the Round of 16 .
2005: After turning in what was at the time the best fall season in program history with a 14-1 record, went from unranked to No. 21 heading into spring play, which was the highest for a UNLV women's player since former All-American Katarina Malec finished 18th in 2000 ... Named the MWC Freshman of the Year along with earning all-league kudos in singles and doubles ... Finished ranked 42nd after compiling a 15-6 record in dual matches for a 31-8 overall mark, which tied for sixth-most wins in a season by a Lady Rebel ... Thrice won at top of lineup to help her team down a ranked opponent at home during spring ... Teamed with Sharon Marin to forge an 8-6 doubles mark at the top spot ... Duo upset eighth-ranked team from New Mexico during semifinals of MWC championship tourney on April 29 ... Became first Lady Rebel since 2001 to earn an at-large bid to NCAA Singles Championship but had to withdraw because of a wrist injury ... Began collegiate career by winning top flight of UNLV Fall Invitational ... Then won both pre-qualifying and qualifying rounds at Riviera All-American Classic ... Defeated five ranked players in four days at the event, including 32nd-ranked Sarah Foster of Kentucky and No. 29 Daniela Muscolina of Tulsa ... Withdrew because of exhaustion in the Round of 16 ... Followed that up with a 5-1 effort in late October at the ITA West Regional in San Diego ... Upset No. 10 Daniela Bercik of UCLA in quarterfinals before losing her first match as a collegian to Lindsey Nelson of USC in semifinals.
HIGH SCHOOL: A 2004 graduate of General Stoychev Sports School ... A past ITF 18-and-under European Indoor Championship runner-up ... A national champion in 10-, 12- and 16-and-under divisions.
PERSONAL: Elena A. Gantcheva was born on June 30, 1985, in Sofia, Bulgaria ... The daughter of Angel and Maria Gantcheva ... Has one brother, Martin (19), who is also a tennis player ... Majoring in hospitality management.
