Jan. 15, 2018
By Joanne Norell
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – A trio of former University of Notre Dame women’s tennis players are finding success on the pro circuit. Quinn Gleason (’16), Monica Robinson (’17) and Mary Closs (’17) are each earning points in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) computer after a productive season in 2017.
Quinn Gleason (’16)
Gleason jumped into the top 500 in both singles and doubles over the previous year and currently holds a No. 263 ranking in doubles and a No. 465 rating in singles. A former No. 1 player in both the Irish singles and doubles lineup, Gleason owns a career 47-24 record in doubles main draw matches and a 24-22 mark in singles.
Gleason won her first career doubles title in April 2017 at the Indian Harbour Beach (Florida) ITF tournament with teammate Kristie Ahn. Her next three titles came with partner Luisa Stefani of Brazil at Knokke (Belgium) in July, Brussels (Belgium) in July, and El Espinar (Segovia) in August. Her lone singles title came in June at the Villa del Dique (Argentina) ITF event.
Monica Robinson (’17)
Also a former No. 1 singles and doubles player for the Irish, Robinson won her first professional championship in December, a doubles title at the Stellenbosch ITF tournament in South Africa. She ranks No. 1157 with a 4-3 singles main draw record, and comes in at No. 1079 in doubles with a 4-4 mark in main draws.
Mary Closs (’17)
Closs entered the WTA computer rankings in November after reaching the quarterfinal of the singles main draw of an ITF tournament in Cucuta, Colombia. In December, she entered the doubles ratings when she reached the doubles semifinal in Guayaquil, Ecuador.
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Joanne Norell, athletics communications assistant director at the University of Notre Dame, has been part of the Fighting Irish athletics communications team since 2014 and coordinates communications efforts for the Notre Dame men’s tennis and fencing programs, in addition to assisting with football communications and overseeing production of the football Gameday Magazine. Norell is a 2011 graduate of Purdue University and earned her master’s degree from Georgetown University in 2013.