From the website “Tennis Canada”
(www.tenniscanada.com)

11/12/02
Zoricic wins second straight junior title

HILTON HEAD, South Carolina (TC) – Katarina Zoricic is on a roll. The Torontonian picked up her second ITF junior title in as many weeks at the Group 4 Chanda Rubin Van der Meer Junior Classic in South Carolina over the weekend.

Seeded first, Zoricic won a close 6-7(3), 7-5, 6-4 semifinal match over American Theresa Logar before ousting third seeded American Alexandra Hirsch 6-2, 7-6(10) to take home the trophy.

The 2002 Under-16 Outdoor National finalist earned her first junior title at the Group 5 El Paso Youth Tennis Centre event in El Paso, Texas at the end of October. With her win in Hilton Head this past weekend, Zoricic, 15, jumps to a career-high No.107 on the ITF junior rankings.


10/28/02
Zoricic wins junior event in Texas

EL PASO, Texas (TC) - Toronto’s Katarina Zoricic, a finalist at this year’s Under-16 Outdoor Nationals in Mississauga, Ont., picked up her first ITF junior singles title at the Group 5 El Paso Youth Tennis Centre event in El Paso, Texas over the weekend.

Seeded first, the native of Sarajevo, Yugoslavia ousted No.2 seed and defending champion Nicole Leimbach of the U.S, 6-3, 6-2. Zoricic also had a successful run in doubles, reaching the finals with Ukrainian partner Alyona Tsutskova. The top seeded duo was unable to hold on to a one-set lead, eventually eliminated 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 by second seeded Americans Danon Beatty and Alessandra Jordan.

Zoricic, ranked third in the country on the ITF junior rankings at No.131, will surely jump past her career high of No.125. In doubles, Zoricic is already the No.1 junior in the country at No.81.


8/16/02
Shulaeva named Under-16 champ

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. (TC) – Top seed Ekaterina Shulaeva of Oakville, Ont., has been crowned champion of the 2002 Metro Label Under-16 Nationals.

Shulaeva, 15, dominated her opponent, No.2 Katarina Zoricic of Toronto, 6-0, 6-2 to win her first National singles title. Shulaeva played an almost perfect match, while Zoricic, suffering from an obvious shoulder injury, made several unforced errors to lose the match in just over an hour. Zoricic, who teamed up with Shulaeva to win the doubles title yesterday, was forced to serve underhand at 5-0 in the first because of her shoulder pain.

While Shulaeva thought it would be a tougher match, she was pleased with the result.

“It feels good,” she said. “I just went out there and played smart. I came out there expecting a tough match because she’s a tough opponent. Obviously her game wasn’t on today, but that doesn’t take anything away from my victory.”


8/15/02
Finals set at Metro Label Under-16 Nationals

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. (TC) – It will be an all-Ontario girls final at the Metro Label Under-16 Nationals at the Ontario Racquet Club.

The top two seeds will battle it out for the National title. No.1 Ekaterina Shulaeva of Oakville, Ont., who eliminated this week’s giant killer Stephanie Wetmore of Burlington, Ont., 6-2, 6-2, will take on No.2 Katarina Zoricic in Friday’s final. Zoricic outlasted third seeded Montrealer Melanie Gloria, 6-2, 6-7(4), 6-1 to set up the all-Ontario final. Zoricic, who was down 5-2 in the second set, dropped the tiebreak after failing to close out the match serving at 6-5.

Shulaeva, who defeated Zoricic in the Under-18 Indoor National semifinals this spring, has a bone to pick after losing in the finals at that same event.

“It felt so horrible to lose when I was so close last time,” said the top seed. “So hopefully I can go out and get a singles title – it’s basically up to me. If I play the right way, play smart, the outcome should be to my advantage”.

In doubles play, Shulaeva and Zoricic won the title after their opponents Gloria and Kimberley Patenaude withdrew from the final. Patenaude spent the afternoon in the hospital because of heart palpitations.


4/9/02
Zoricic wins three-set battle to advance to Under-18 quarters

MARKHAM, Ont. (TC) – Toronto’s Katarina Zoricic, the second seed at this week’s Under-18 Indoor National Championships at the Mayfair Racquet Club, outlasted stiff competition in Lasalle, Ontario’s Kara Delicata to advance to Wednesday’s quarter-finals. Zoricic, Canada’s No.2 junior on the ITF rankings, defeated Delicata 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 as she moves on in the hunt for her first National singles title.


2/1/01
Zoricic in quarters in France

TARBES, France (TC) - Katarina Zoricic will make an appearance in the quarter-finals of the world's top tournament for 14-year-olds and under.

The Toronto native defeated Bulgaria’s Dessilava Mladenova 7-5, 6-4 to advance to the quarters of the Les Petits As tournament in Tarbes, France. Zoricic knocked off Switzerland’s Timea Bacsinszky and South Africa’s Lize-Marie Cloete en route to the final eight.

Canada’s two-time national under-14 finalist gets set to face Slovakia’s Jarmilla Gajdosova in the quarters.

Previous winners of the Les Petits As include Martina Hingis, Kim Clijsters, Anna Kournikova, Juan Carlos Ferrero and Michael Chang.


1/8/01
Katarina Zoricic on fire in Florida - Toronto native an Orangebowl semifinalist

CORAL GABLES, Florida (TC) - Melanie Marois wasn’t the only Canadian to make waves in Florida. Toronto’s Katarina Zoricic put on her own show at the 39th Junior International Orange Bowl. The 13-year-old advanced to the semifinals of the most renowned junior Under 14 tournament in the world.

In the first round, Zoricic pulled off one of the biggest wins of her career, upsetting top seed Andreja Klepac of Slovakia 6-3, 7-5. The unseeded Zoricic defeated American Anita Ivancevic 6-2, 7-6(1) in the Round of 16 and then breezed by French qualifier Charlaine Vanneste of France 6-2, 6-2 in the quarter-finals.

In the semis, Zoricic was stopped by the tournament’s ninth seed, Morena De Bernardi of Italy, 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-3. De Bernardi went on to the finals, where she bowed out 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 to Nicole Pitts of the U.S.


7/23/00
Zoricic remarkable in Holland’s top junior tournament

Toronto’s Katarina Zoricic, Canada’s two-time national under-14 finalist, is heading to the finals in a top junior tournament in Leeuwarden, Holland. The Windmill Cup - Carl Gantois is one of the top three Under-14 events in the world. With 40 countries in competition, Zoricic has battled some of the world’s best juniors in her climb to Saturday’s finals.

On Friday, Zoricic defeated third seed M. Domachowska of Poland, 6-4, 6-2 and will face the No. 10 player, D. Kustova of Belarus on Saturday. En route, Zoricic also eliminated A. Yakimova (6), and T. Pavic (17).

Zoricic’s fantastic performance matches the best appearance by a Canadian in the event - Tyson Parry’s 1993 trip to the finals. Parry finally fell to current top ATP player, Argentina’s Mariano Zabaleta.

Good luck, Katarina!