The University of Akron Athletics
2011-12 Women's Tennis
Natalia Kuvakina
- Height:
- 5-10
- Class:
- Sophomore
- High School:
- Plus St. Petersburg
- Hometown:
- St. Petersburg, Russia
as a Freshman (Spring 2011): Earned the ITA Scholar-Athlete Award ... scored a three-set, last-match-on-court win at No. 6 singles to give second-seeded Akron a comeback 4-3 victory over top-seeded Miami (Ohio) in the MAC tournament championship – the program's first league title ... in that decisive contest she dropped her first set 6-4 to MU's Cara Wald, but got a 6-2 and 6-4 decision in the next two sets to score match point ... posted an 11-10 singles record, including a 5-2 mark against league opponents.
as a Freshman (Fall 2010): Champion of flight 3 singles at the Eck Classic at Notre Dame, posting four victories in the three-day event ... defeated teammate Carolina Castro Cota 6-1, 6-2 in the Eck Classic semifinal round and then got the best of Kansas' Victoria Khanevskaya 6-1, 7-5 in the title match ... saw action in singles and doubles at the Purdue Invitational and represented the Zips at the Midwest Regional in singles and doubles.
Prior to Akron: Held a career-high International Tennis Federation (ITF) ranking of No. 571 in July 2010 ... European Tennis Association Under 16 top ranking of No. 29 in July 2008 ... National (Russian) Under 16 top ranking of No. 25 in August 2007 ... reached quarterfinals of 2009 St. Petersburg Governor Cup, with a 7-6 (2), 1-6, 7-6 (6) win over Julia Valetova (Valetova boasts a career-high ITF ranking of No. 169).
Personal: Born May 2, 1992 ... daughter of Vadim Kuvakin and Svetlana Kuvakina ... mother is employed by the Department of Statistics and father is a financial consultant ... favorite book is The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco ... favorite movie is Sobachye Serdtse (Heart of a Dog) ... favorite tennis player is Roger Federer ... craziest ambition is to build a bridge across the Bering Strait (plans on majoring in civil engineering at Akron) ... favorite quotations: "Success doesn't come to you, you go for it" and "Formal education will make you a living. Self-education will make you a fortune."
