Auburn junior Ava Esposito became the 13th player in program history to achieve ITA All-America honors by reaching the round of 16 at the NCAA Singles Championship on Wednesday. Esposito defeated Anastasiia Grechkina 6-4, 6-3 in Wednesday morning's round of 32 match.
"I just tried to focus on what I could do to win the match," Esposito said after the win. "I kept my head down and worked every point. I'm really proud of how I came through during the match and did everything right.
"Obviously, being an All-American has been a goal for me. Everyone comes into college with that in the back of their minds, so I feel honored to have that title. Super proud at the end of the day, but excited to play the rest of the tournament."
The Auburn junior earned a break over Grechkina in the final game of the opening set to win 6-4. She then kept the momentum going by taking a 3-1 lead in the second set before ultimately winning 6-4, 6-3 with a hold to love in the final game.
Auburn has now produced a singles All-American in each of the last four seasons and 20 All-American selections all-time.
Esposito will play her round of 16 match on Thursday at a time that is to be determined.
One round of the single-elimination draw will be played each day at the USTA National Campus, concluding with Sunday’s championship match. All matches of the 2025-26 NCAA Singles Championship will stream live on ESPN+, and live scoring will be available throughout the event at NCAA.com.