By Craig Morgan, thesundevils.com Writer
TEMPE, Ariz. -- Desirae Krawczyk feels anxious as the end of her college career approaches.
"It's so weird because I remember freshman year like it was yesterday," she said.
Unlike her first couple seasons, however, the Sun Devils top women's tennis player isn't letting that anxiety derail her goals.
"I remember some of the first practices of her freshman year where she'd be like, 'Oh, my God, I'm so stressed' and I'm like 'Des, this is practice! If you’re stressed now, we've got a big problem,'" Sun Devils coach Sheila McInerney said. "She gets really anxious on the court or at least she did. That was the thing that held her back a little bit in juniors. Once she started going down the drain, she went down fast."
Maturity, McInerney's constant on-court guidance and the help of a quasi-sports psychologist have helped Krawczyk manage her emotions with rewarding returns. With only this weekend's Pac-12 finale at Arizona left before the conference and NCAA Championships, Krawczyk sports a 23-10 record in singles play and a 19-11 mark in doubles play. Her 94 singles victories over her four-year Sun Devil career currently rank fourth all-time.
She won the ASU Thunderbird Invitational title, becoming the first Sun Devil to win the event since 2010. She upset two top-20 players to win the Palm Springs Invitational in January, thereby earning Pac-12 Player of the Week honors.
Heading into last weekend's matches at UCLA and USC, she was the No. 23 ranked singles player in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings and she defeated then-No. 1 Francesca Di Lorenzo of Ohio State in February, marking the second straight season in which she has recorded a win over the nation's top player.
"She's really been the face of our program the last couple years, but it's so much more than that," McInerney said. "She works hard, she's very receptive and she's so much fun to be around. When she comes around that corner she usually has a smile on her face. Happy people are fun to be around, especially when you’re in a competitive environment and you need someone to lighten the mood."
Krawczyk could have been picky with her college choice. As a successful junior player in southern California, she had a number of suitors.
"I didn't really even look into colleges until my senior year," said, who had grown up with Class of 2015 Sun Devil, Joanna Smith, and had also played numerous matches against Vlad. "There were offers around but Sheila had been to so many of my matches, she emailed me a lot and she was really on top of things so I always felt comfortable around her.
"I was training at the USTA facility in Carson (California) when one of my coaches told me, 'if I could send my daughter to one coach, it would be Sheila.' I thought that was a pretty good recommendation so I made up my mind and I've never regretted it."
Krawczyk is a left-hander who can throw off opponents with some unusual strengths.
"I have really worked to have her understand the game of tennis a little better and play like a lefty, play to those strengths," McInerney said. "We want her to hit her forehand across her body, sort of like (Rafael) Nadal where you're really trying to get your opponent out of position.
"She's got a great backhand. Usually for lefties, it’s the forehand so we really try to set up plays for her where in critical times she goes to her bread and butter."
Krawczyk wants to play pro so she will test the financially and competitively difficult waters this summer by playing in some tournaments. Her fallback is to become a college coach, but she is doing her best to block out any plans that don't involve full-time competition.
"I started playing when I was 2 on the court with my dad with this tiny grip and a giant frame," Krawczyk said, laughing. "Ever since then it’s been a part of my life every single day. That day may come when it’s time to stop but I still feel like I have long ways to go in this game."