NEWPORT, RI – North Texas tennis junior Maria Kononova was selected to play in the International Tennis Association Hall of Fame Invitational this Friday through Sunday in Newport, Rhode Island.

The grass court tournament features the best collegiate tennis players in the country and offers them a chance to not only compete against the very best but also improve their respected ITA ranking.

Kononova, was recently ranked a North Texas program-best No. 41 in the nation for singles. In addition, she and fellow North Texas junior, Tamuna Kutubidze, earned a Mean Green record-setting No. 22 ranking for doubles.

“We are very excited for this opportunity for Maria this weekend,” said Mean Green associate head coach Jeff Hammond, who is traveling with Kononova. “The hall of fame is for the very best and it’s an honor to be invited.”

Kononova will compete in both singles and doubles.

In singles, Kononova is the No. 1 ranked player in her flight. She will go up against Gabriella Pollner of Princeton.

In doubles she will be paired with Florida’s freshman Katie Kubicz. The Gators were the 2017 NCAA National Champions. In their flight, Kononova and Kubicz will face North Carolina’s doubles team of Sara Daavettila and Allie Sanford. The Tar Heels’ double team is ranked No. 38 in the country - Daavettila is the No. 4 ranked singles player.

In her two years at North Texas, Kononova owns a 7-3 combined record versus ranked opponents in singles play. She was 5-2 last year.

Kononova had a breakout sophomore season. The Ufa, Russia, native set the program-record for dual match singles victories with 18. Her .782 winning percentage was the second highest for a single season in program history and was .006 off the record. Her straight-set victory on Feb. 10 against Oklahoma’s No. 16 nationally ranked Lily Miyazaki is the highest ranked opponent a Mean Green tennis player has ever beaten.

“Maria’s hard work the past few years is coming to fruition,” Hammond said. “Now is the time for her to take advantage of these opportunities and do her very best to make the most of them.”

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