Special from
Zoo Tennis
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Four years ago, Alexa Noel watched as the pandemic shut down most professional events, leaving college tennis as her best option for competition in the coming academic year. After that freshman year at Iowa, a serious ankle injury and a transfer to the University of Miami, the 21-year-old from Summit, New Jersey capped the 2023-24 season with the biggest title in college tennis, winning the Division I women's singles championship last month in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
Miami's Alexa Noel won the 2024 NCAA Singles Title
© Zoo Tennis
Noel, who reached the 2019 Wimbledon girls final and had been a junior star since age 11, had not considered college tennis as an option until 2020. But once she began her college career, Noel had immediate success, and after a 17-0 freshman year at the No. 1 position for Iowa, she was named Big Ten Player of the Year and an ITA All-American. Her outstanding first season ended not only with accolades, however; an ankle injury suffered during the 2021 NCAA championships led to a lengthy rehab, and when that failed to provide the anticipated recovery, Noel had surgery and entered the transfer portal. After signing with Miami in January of 2022, she began classes in Coral Gables that summer, and returned to competition in the fall.
