EAST LANSING, Mich – Freshman No. 92-ranked Ria Bhakta became the first Spartan since 2019 to be named the Big Ten Women's Tennis Player of the Week, as announced by the conference on Wednesday, following her top 20 victory against Michigan's No. 19-ranked Julia Fliegner last Saturday.
"She has been knocking on the door for her whole young career here. Each day she embraces the process," said head coach Kim Bruno. "She has the ability to listen to her teammates, coaches and do the little things that matter. She wants to be great, that says a lot about a kid. If they want to be great, they'll do what it takes. Every aspect of her game has gotten better. I haven't seen this amount of growth in a short period of time from a player in a very long time. She's a joy to be around. I'm so proud of here and it was so fun to see her ear to ear smiling the last two days."
The Delray Beach, Florida, native Bhakta would pull off a come from behind victory over Fliegner for the biggest victory of her young career. Bhakta worked her way back after dropping the first set, 4-6, to rattle off two-straight set victories (6-4, 1-0 [11-9]) in a true back-and-forth matchup.
Bhakta has been Michigan State's top performer on the singles court garnishing an impressive 10-2 overall record in the dual season, 2-1 in B1G duals and 8-2 in her last 10 complete matches. With her big victory, the freshman has earned national recognition with her first collegiate ranking, entering at No. 92 in the latest ITA singles ranking.
"I'm feeling really good. Coming off the big win last Saturday. It was a big confidence boost for me. That win was a lot of hard work put together and I'm seeing it paying off now," said Bhakta. "For me, nothing changes. I'm keeping the same mindset I've had since the fall. Every day is a new day where I'm going to come out on the court and get better."
This accomplishment marks the first for the Green and White since Maja Pietrowicz in March of the 2019 season.
The Spartans and Bhakta will be back in action as they travel for a B1G weekend slate to Minnesota on Friday, April 12 at 3:30 ET, then to Wisconsin on Sunday, April 14, first serve is scheduled for noon ET.
Release courtesy of MSU Athletics.
