Bermuda Tennis Player ‘An Overachiever’

Delaware State was able to beat North Carolina A&T 7-0 on Saturday [Mar. 3] in women’s college tennis action. Before the two teams played, Delaware State junior Kristen Lopez walked into the Piedmont Indoor Tennis Center and with a deep Barbados accent yelled the name “Cayla.”

“Who is calling my name?” asked Cayla Cross, the North Carolina A&T junior tennis player out of Bermuda.

“I’m calling your name,” Ms Lopez returned as the two shared a reunion moment once Ms Cross figured out who was calling her name. The two hadn’t seen each other since they were 14 years old. But their friendship picked up where it left off.

These types of reunions happen to Ms Cross frequently. She played for youth teams in Bermuda, which allowed her to travel all over the Caribbean as a teenager.

Before coming to A&T, she has played in Guatemala, Saint Vincent, Barbados and the Bahamas. She has even played outside of the islands, in places such as Greece, New York and Miami. Therefore, playing against international competition is nothing new for Ms Cross.

“You get to meet a lot of people,” said Ms Cross about her travels. “You get to experience a lot of different cultures, and you make lifelong friends. It really prepared me.”

Ms Cross’ international opponent on Saturday in No. 2 singles was Serbian Kristina Aleksic. Ms Cross and Ms Aleksic played a thrilling match in which Alkesic won 7-5, 7-6 (7-5) in the tiebreak.

“It doesn’t bother her at all. She knows them all,” said A&T coach James Dunwoody about Ms Cross playing against international competition. “She is much more adept in playing the international style of play than my American players. She can handle the pressure a lot better. When it is close, it doesn’t bother her. It bothers my other players. It doesn’t bother her. She is used to it.”

Ms Cross’ biggest issue on the court is where she plays, according to Mr. Dunwoody. Mr. Dunwoody said it is his responsibility to put more talent around her because ideally she should be slotted as a No.4, 5 or 6 singles player in the lineup and not where she has played most of the season, as a No. 1 or 2. Ms Cross has lost tough matches against Shaw, East Carolina and Norfolk State recently.

“Cayla is an overachiever,” said Ms Dunwoody. “That’s what puts her in position to play close matches even though she is playing against people she really shouldn’t be playing against at No. 1. She understands when it is a critical time in the match. When it gets close, she knows how to deal with it.”

Ms Cross, who is an accounting major and an A&T scholar athlete, took an early 2-0 lead on Ms Alkesic in the first set on Saturday. Ms Alkesic rallied to take a 4-3 advantage before Ms Cross came back to reach set point at 5-4, and she led 40-30 in the game that would have clinched the set for her. But Ms Alkesic evened the score at 40 all and then powered two consecutive service aces to win the point. Ms Cross lost the next two games to give Ms Alkesic the set.

“I was extremely frustrated after the first set,” said Ms Cross. “She had a powerful serve. I didn’t attack it the way I needed to. I thought I hit the ball down the middle too much. When you do that, power players like her are able to hit the ball at an angle. I thought for the most part, I fought back. I didn’t let my first set affect my second.”

In the second set, Ms Cross again was up 6-5, leaving her one point away from victory. Ms Alkesic was able to break her serve to tie the set, and went on to take a 5-2 lead in the tiebreaker. Ms Cross fought back to make it 6-5. But when Ms Alkesic called her serve out of bounds, a call Ms Cross questioned before conceding. Ms Cross dropped to 2-8 on the season and 0-2 at No. 2 singles.

“I just have to make sure I don’t back up off my pace,” said Ms Cross, who chose A&T after going on a tour of Historically Black Colleges and Universities [HBCUs] when she was in high school. “It was a really tight match. It seems as if I have a lot of those.”

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