Jackson Progress-Argus

Mallory Burdette, who was raised in Jackson, is now the top-ranked collegiate tennis player in the country.

Nearly 18 months after winning a national championship with her Stanford teammates as a freshman, junior Mallory Burdette, a Jackson native, now sits atop the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s Division I rankings for the first time in her career.

In addition to her No. 1 singles ranking, Burdette and her Stanford teammate Nicole Gibbs were named the ITA’s No. 1 doubles pairing in the country.

Burdette’s accomplishment is a first among her three siblings -- Andy, Erin and Lindsay -- all of whom played Division I tennis. Burdette’s sisters both won national championships playing for Stanford, and Lindsay and Mallory were teammates for one season during Stanford’s championship run in 2010.

“It was always kind of a distant goal, but it wasn’t something I constantly focused on,” Mallory said of reaching No. 1 in the national rankings. “When I trained and worked all of those years, I always just tried to do the best that I could, and whatever happens, happens. I feel pretty lucky.”

Mallory’s route to the summit of the rankings was circuitous. Burdette began the season in September ranked No. 17 by the ITA, but lost in the first round of her first tournament, the Womens’ All-American Tennis Championship, during the fall’s individual tournament season.

“I wouldn’t say we were worried or overly disappointed when she lost that opening match, because we, as parents, and Mallory are much more concerned with the team performance later in the season,” said Mallory’s father, Alan, who runs the Jackson Veterinary Clinic. “Those kinds of tournaments have some of the best tennis players in the country competing, so anyone could get knocked out in any round. It’s very competitive.”

The loss placed her in the consolation bracket of the tournament, where she was then able to rattle off four straight wins, three of which were against players ranked in the top 15 in the ITA rankings. In total, Burdette earned five fall wins over top-15 players, defeating No. 4 Joanna Mather of Florida, No. 10 Denise Dy of Washington (twice), No. 12 Kristi Boxx of Ole Miss and No. 14 Diana Nakic of Baylor.

Mallory Burdette rode her top form, along with her partner Gibbs, to a doubles title in the doubles Womens’ All-American Tennis Championship. Along the way, the pair defeated the second-ranked team of Chelsey Gullickson and Nadja Gilchrist (Georgia), the eighth-ranked team of Keri Wong and Josipa Bek (Clemson) and the 10th-ranked team of Allie Will and Sofie Oyen (Florida). Those victories, combined with a semifinal appearance at the National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships, helped Mallory Burdette and Gibbs earn the No. 1 women's doubles ranking.

Mallory Burdette said she is able to look past much of the individual success she has had not only this season, but in her career, and focus on the team goal -- to win another national championship.

“I'm definitely putting my focus into the team right now,” she said. “I'm a co-captain on the team this year. As far as an individual national championship? I don't know, I guess I don't think about that as much as I do the team championship.”

Mallory Burdette is still unsure how long she will continue to play tennis at the most competitive levels. She said that while she has pondered the idea of playing professionally, she also said she is interested in going back to medical school after attaining her undergraduate degree.

“I'm not sure about playing professionally or anything like that,” she said. “That's something I'll worry about my senior year, but right now I'm definitely planning on completing my four years here at Stanford, and then we'll see where it goes from there.”