GLENDALE, Wis. – On the final day of the 50th anniversary Milwaukee Tennis Classic, Colorado didn’t just finish its weekend. It stamped it.
With a doubles win and a gritty three-set singles victory over Wisconsin, the Buffaloes walked out of the Badger State with momentum, belief, and a clear sense that this young group is already hardening.
Colorado brought only four players to Glendale, but they squeezed every drop out of the trip. After two days loaded with six doubles matches and 15 singles contests, Sunday offered a lighter schedule. The level didn’t dip.
Head coach Anthony Pham watched his group close with authority.
“I thought our group made some good progress this weekend,” Pham said. “We played a ton of matches, competed well, and are showing strong maturity in how we handle adversity.”
Doubles set the tone
The morning started at 9 a.m., and Colorado’s veterans wasted no time.
Returning pair Lera Alexin and Ema Bubalo took the court against Wisconsin’s Karolina Jacobson – a Colorado native – and Gabriela Skrabalova and immediately seized control. They broke through in the opening game, setting a tone that never really shifted.
Wisconsin answered to make it 1-1. That was as close as it got.
Alexin and Bubalo tightened their grip, rolling through three straight games to surge ahead 4-1. When the Badgers trimmed the deficit to 4-2, the Buffs’ response was sharp and ruthless. Two more games, no more cracks, a 6-2 win on the board and a clear signal that Colorado intended to finish this tournament on its terms.
The doubles point didn’t just add to the weekend tally. It handed a debutant something crucial: a platform.
Ternstroem’s debut fight
With the doubles work done, all eyes shifted to singles, and to a new face in black and gold.
First-year player Louise Ternstroem, making her Colorado debut, was the only Buff to play singles on Sunday. She carried the doubles energy straight into her match with Jacobson.
Ternstroem settled quickly, taking the opening set 6-3. The patterns looked solid, the nerves under control. But Jacobson, playing in her home state and eager to respond after the doubles loss, dug in.
The second set turned into a scrap. Games tightened, rallies lengthened, and the pressure ratcheted up. Jacobson edged the set 7-6, dragging the contest into a deciding tiebreak and asking a blunt question of Colorado’s newcomer: could she close?
Ternstroem answered.
In the match tiebreak, she steadied herself, leaned on the work of the previous two days, and found enough composure to pull away. She sealed the victory 6-3, 6-7, 1-0, a three-set grind that delivered both a personal milestone and another win for Colorado.
For a freshman’s first outing, it was exactly the kind of test coaches want to see passed.
Work ahead
The weekend in Wisconsin gave Colorado volume, reps, and a final day that felt like a step forward rather than a formality. Pham saw a group learning to live inside tough moments, not shrink from them.
“We are excited to get back to practice, to prepare for the Bedford Cup in a couple of weeks,” he said.
Next up is the Bedford Cup at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, running Sept. 25–27. The altitude will be different, the field deeper, the stakes a little higher.
Colorado heads home with something that can’t be scripted in practice: the feel of a tight tiebreak won, a doubles match closed out, and a young season already starting to gather pace.
