Completed Event: Women's Tennis at #8 Auburn on March 28, 2025 , Win , 4, to, 3
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Women's Tennis
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at #8 Auburn
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University of Oklahoma Athletics
Sooner Profile: Ana-Maria Constantinescu
April 13, 2008 | Women's Tennis
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A native of Bucharest, Romania, she is Oklahoma's No. 1 singles player and has been ranked among the top 100 players in the country the entire season.
But while tennis is primarily classified as an individual sport, Constantinescu credits her teammates for much of her success. Not only have they helped her with the adjustments to college life and living so far away from home, they have also been an inspiration on the court.
"I feel more motivated because I am playing for a team and have to win for them, not just myself," she said.
This selfless attitude, combined with her abilities on the court, make Ana-Maria Constantinescu the type of player you can build a program around. And with three years remaining in her college career, the future looks bright for the OU women's tennis team.
On the recruiting process and how she ended up at Oklahoma:
"I was actually recruited in Canada. That's where my family lives now. I was playing in an ITF tournament and one of the former players here saw me playing. She talked with our coaches about it and that's basically how I ended up here."
On what this year has been like being so far away from her family:
"It was hard at first because it was the first time I was away from my family for a long period of time. But I came
 "I feel more motivated because I am playing for a team and have to win for them, not just myself." |
On the biggest adjustment she faced in terms of the school aspect:
"School-wise, I think the biggest thing I had to adjust to were the tons and tons of papers you have to write. I got used to it though. You go through English Comp and all that where you have to write a bunch of papers, so I just got used to it."
On how much her teammates have helped her along:
"It's been really helpful. I'm playing doubles with Chelsea (Orr) and she has helped me out a lot. Bax (Christi Baxley) is also a great leader to our team and Rachel (Cox) is just great, so they have all helped me pretty much with everything, so it's been great."
On whether she expected to have such a big impact as a freshman:
"I had high expectations and, I mean, the season is still young but I didn't really think I would do that well. I did have high expectations though, so I'm pretty glad with how it's going so far."
On what has been the biggest influence to her success this year:
"Before I came here I was just playing for myself, where here I'm playing for a team and that makes a big difference. I feel more motivated because I am playing for a team and have to win for them, not just myself."
On the team's chemistry away from the court:
"This year has been great. We get along so well. When we have long trips and all that, long matches and long days, at the end of the day it's good that you have people who are going through the same things as you are. They understand that you may be tired and all that, so it's good to have other people around who know what you're going through."
On her goals and expectations for the remainder of the season:
"I'm pretty much just hoping that I'm going to go to NCAAs in singles and doubles. We're still not sure but I hope I can make it. Other than that, I just hope the upcoming Big 12 Championship will turn out well for us."
On her excitement for the future of the program:
"I'm really excited. I'm sure the new facility we're getting is going to make a huge difference, especially for our practices indoors in the winter. This year it was pretty hard going to Willow Creek every day, especially because it was in the morning. I think it's going to make a huge impact on our performance, both preseason and during the season."
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Learn more about Ana-Maria and the Sooner women's tennis program by checking out the Sooner Sports Weekly section in the OU Athletics Video Library.
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