By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
Instrumental in the best four-year stretch in the history of Baylor women's tennis, Lenka Broosova is still haunted by "What if?"
"We're kind of obsessive about it, if you will," she said of ongoing conversations with former teammates Taylor Ormond and Jelena Stanivuk. "I definitely think about what I could have done better, what I could have said. That just goes with who I am as a person. I want to win really bad, and I do believe I left it all out there.
"But, that doesn't mean you don't look back and think about the different scenarios that could have been. I do believe that everything happens for a reason and God is completely in control. I wouldn't be the same person if I would have won, I learned so many lessons. Now, I wish I could have learned those lessons while being an NCAA champion."
That was one of the few omissions on an impressive resume for a five-time All-American that still stands as Baylor's all-time leader in career singles (154) and doubles victories (120), leading the Lady Bears to a four-year record of 115-18, a sweep of the Big 12 regular-season and tournament titles and the program's first-ever Final Four berth.
Now, she can add a footnote to that resume as part of the Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame 2020 class that includes fellow tennis player Lars Poerschke, football players Jason Smith, Brad Goebel and Andrew Melontree, volleyball's Anna Breyfogle and three-time All-Americans Todd Cooper from track & field and Brette Reagan from softball.
"Honestly, it's a dream come true," said Broosova, who becomes just the third women's tennis player in the Hall of Fame, joining Jahnavi Parekh and Zuzana Zemenova, "because I have such a special place in my heart for Baylor. To be a part of something that I know such amazing athletes are in, it truly is an honor."
With an under-18 singles rankings of No. 76 in the world, Broosova reached the semifinals of a $10,000 tournament in Bucharest, Romania, when she was 17. But, the timing could not have been better when Baylor coach Joey Scrivano reached out to her in Slovakia to see if she was interested in coming to the U.S. to play collegiate tennis.
"The timing was absolutely perfect," she said. "I was kind of looking for a change. I was playing professionally, but it wasn't really working out. I had left the National Academy, and I wasn't really happy. . . . He didn't sugarcoat anything. He told me, 'Look, you're good, but there is some still some work we can do.'''
A top-of-the-lineup player from the start, Broosova was named the ITA Southwest Region Rookie of the Year as a freshman in 2007. She was 37-8 in singles, including an 11-0 mark in conference play, and earned the first of four-straight All-Big 12 honors in singles and doubles.
Zemenova, a 2018 Hall of Fame inductee and 2005 NCAA champion, set a standard for Broosova and the other Baylor players to chase.
"When she was there, it was kind of like, 'OK, this is my challenge, this is the bar I need to get to,''' Broosova said. "That was so helpful for me to think, 'If I can beat ZZ in practice, if I can maybe take a set off of her.' Obviously, other players as well, but ZZ was the player to look up to in that area. She was amazing."
Broosova set her own standard as a sophomore in 2008, winning a school-record 52 singles matches, reaching the NCAA quarterfinals in singles and finishing the season ranked No. 6 in the country in doubles with Zemenova. The year ended in tears, though, when Baylor lost to Cal, 4-3, in the NCAA semifinals.
"When you give it your all and it doesn't work out the way you thought you deserved, you almost feel like you were robbed," said Broosova, who defeated Cal's Cristina Visico, 6-3, 6-2, at No. 3 singles. "To this day, I still believe 100 percent that we were better than them. UCLA won the whole thing, and we beat them, 5-2, in the regular season, at their place. That was just a special year. And when it doesn't work out the way you want it to, it cuts a little deeper."
The Lady Bears lost in the quarterfinals each of the next two years, losing to fifth-seeded Notre Dame, 4-3, in 2009 and falling to eventual national champion Stanford, 4-2, in 2010 after earning the program's first No. 1 ranking and top seed for the tournament.
"I believe my senior year was worse than my sophomore year, because obviously it was my last year to win it," said Broosova, who lost to fourth-seeded Hilary Barte of Stanford in the deciding match at No. 1 singles. "There were a lot of firsts that year that were amazing, but again it felt disappointing at the end. That's life."
After a year off following Tommy John surgery, when she served as Baylor's director of tennis operations, Broosova had immediate success on the pro circuit. She won tournaments in Bolivia and Colombia and saw her ranking jump up to No. 550 in the world.
Her career ended prematurely with a torn Achilles injury in March 2012. Although the surgeon told her there was a very small chance that it would tear again, "I just couldn't get over it mentally," Broosova said.
"I definitely look back and wonder how good I could have been," she said. "I just decided that it's not worth it. My health is much more important. It's just unfortunate the way it worked out."
Since jumping into coaching as an assistant at Tulsa in 2014, Broosova has helped the Golden Hurricane win three American Athletic Conference championships and make four NCAA Tournament appearances. She was promoted to associate head coach two years ago.
"I think if I'm going to be a head coach, I'm going to know when I'm ready," she said. "I just feel a tremendous responsibility that if I have eight girls who want to come to America and play college tennis and have so much potential, I want to maximize what they have. I don't know, we'll see what happens. I'm open to things."
In May, Broosova was named Player of the Decade on a Baylor all-decade team that included former teammates Stanivuk, Ormond and Nina Secerbegovic, along with Ema Burgic and Blair Shankle.
"She really helped us create and build the culture that we're known for in our Baylor women's tennis program," Scrivano said. "She was kind of like one of the founding members in establishing this tradition."
Due to COVID-19, arrangements for the Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame banquet are still pending.
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