Victory for top seeds is a piece of (Jacqueline) Cako

Under the hot summer sun at the Pacific Northwest Open, fans in the stands marveled at the play of the athletes before them on the hard tennis courts Friday.

“It’s the highest level tennis around; it is one step below what you’re seeing on television,” said Nick Moxley, head professional at the Tacoma Lawn Tennis Club. “The members love coming out and seeing players coming out of that professional level or trying to get into that level.”

One such player is the men’s No. 1 seed, Kyle McMorrow. McMorrow, originally from Thousand Oaks, California, is a former member of the University of Washington tennis team, where he earned honors as part of the All-Pac-12 first team and made it to the NCAA singles and doubles championships.

However, these days McMorrow has stopped playing professionally, and is happy coaching full time and entering fewer tournaments.

“It (feels better) when you’re out there for fun. You get to appreciate it more,” he said. “Obviously, when you are playing for money, there is a lot more incentive, and you can get the competitive juices flowing a lot more.”

McMorrow defeated fellow Husky alum Gal Hakak, 6-2, 6-2, in their matchup thanks to some stout defense. McMorrow advanced to the semifinals for the third consecutive year.

Like McMorrow, Washington native Jacqueline Cako, the top-seeded woman in the PNW Open, has found success in college and professionally. Currently sitting at No. 430 in the Women’s Tennis Association, Cako made her mark by earning All-American status in 2011 and 2012 for Arizona State.

Her quarterfinals matchup Friday was close to home. Cako faced off against her doubles partner, Davina Meza.

“It’s always interesting playing against your doubles partner, but it wasn’t too bad,” Cako said with a smile. “I’ve played against people that I shared a hotel room with before, but I block it out and play the match. And we still play doubles together, so we’re still friends.”

Cako made quick work of Meza, winning 6-0, 6-2. In fact, Cako has given up only four games in the whole tournament as she stormed past Madison Egan in straight sets and beat Adrianna Fardanesh, 6-2, 6-0.

“I try to always play aggressive, and that’s just part of my strategy,” Cako said. “I don’t play like everyone else, too. I slice, I change it up.”

As Cako climbs the bracket in women’s singles, she may find herself facing off against third-seeded Desirae Krawczyk in the finals.

Krawczyk also is a former Arizona State tennis team member, reaching the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 singles championships as well as leading her team in victories.

Fighting just as hard against her opponents and shutting them down just has effectively, Krawczyk won her first match, 6-0, 6-0, against Barbara Carey, and defeated Chloe Goyette, 6-0, 6-2, in the second round.

Squaring off in the quarterfinals against Elizaveta Luzina, Krawczyk took advantage of her opponent’s lack of moving forward and placed her balls in the service box.

“If I notice that they aren’t doing so well moving forward, then I will add that to my game, but normally I don’t play like that,” Krawczyk said. “You can’t really go for too much early on, but you kind of have to get a feel for what they will do and what their weaknesses are.”

Spencer Furman, a Duke commit, played in the longest singles match of the day, defeating Oren Motevassel, 6-3, 6-7, 6-1.

“I’m not thinking about how long I’m out there, I’m thinking about solving the problems he’s giving me,” Furman said.

Bess Waldram went the distance in three sets, defeating Alexandra Vagramov, 7-5, 6-7, 6-3.

“I felt like I stayed very positive out there, stayed in the present and moved forward,” Waldram said.

Semifinal play for men and women begins at 11 a.m. Saturday.

This story was originally published July 29, 2016 at 10:35 PM with the headline "Victory for top seeds is a piece of (Jacqueline) Cako."