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Balus Rockets up the ITF Rankings After Breakout Run in Canada
11/3/2025 8:19:00 AM | Women's Tennis
DURHAM, N.C.-- Irina Balus is making a name for herself beyond the Blue Devil stage. The Duke sophomore recently returned from a pair of professional tournaments in Canada with a new sense of confidence; and a career-high ranking to show for it. After a breakout stretch at the W35 Quebec City and W75 Saguenay tournaments, Balus vaulted more than 300 spots in the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) rankings to reach No. 780.
With her improved ranking, Balus was even recognized by the ITA as the "Rankings Riser Biggest Mover" recently following her impressive pair of events.
"It was just a really great experience. It exceeded my expectations," Balus said. "My expectations were to 'let's see where my level's at,' and it ended up being like, 'Wow I really can play with these great players.'"
The realization came through hard-earned wins across both tournaments, kicked off by fighting through qualifying to reach the main draw. In the W35 Quebec City, after defeating No. 14 seed Catherine Xie 6-1, 6-2 in qualifying, she beat Clemence Mercier 6-2, 7-6 (7-3) in the opening round and then upset top-seeded Viktoria Hruncakova, ranked No. 218 in the world, before falling to seventh seed Victoria Allen in the third round.
"The first tournament was very unique conditions. The courts were extremely fast. It was a matter of holding serve," Balus said. "I feel like winning that match in a tiebreak [against Mercier] really gave me confidence, because I was very happy with how I was holding my serve and how focused I was on my service games."
The confidence gained carried into the W75 Saguenay, where she quickly advanced from qualifying again, but the conditions required a quick adjustment.
"The second tournament the balls were different and the surface was way slower. I had to adjust to that," Balus said. "The first tournament really helped me for that second tournament -- the more matches you play; you get more confident."
After straight-set qualifying wins over Cristina Elene Tiglea (6-4, 6-0) and Melodie Collard (6-0, 6-4), she opened the main draw with a big win over Jessica Failla 6-4, 6-7 (3-7), 6-2. In the second round, Balus faced the No. 1 seed Kayla Cross, ranked 237 in the WTA. Despite this intimidating opponent, she battled to defeat Cross in three sets, 6-2, 2-6, 6-3.
"Winning against her really showed me that if I like, I can go play pro after college, because of the level I was competing at," said Balus. "It really showed me that if I focus 100% on tennis I can compete with these girls."
Beyond the impressive results, the experience gave Balus a firsthand taste of how different professional tennis feels from the college format. From no-ad scoring in college tennis to the difference in coaching rules, these shifts make a small but noticeable difference when shifting your mindset.
"When I look back, there were so many matches where we had long games with ad and deuce. In college, that wouldn't have happened," Balus said.
Professional events also remove the line-calling disputes common in collegiate play, where often only a chair official is present.
"There are controversial moments around that," Balus explained. "In professional tournaments, you have line judges and 99% of the calls are the right calls. You don't really have to focus on that aspect. In professional tennis, I just have to focus on playing this rally well and focus on the strategy, and that's it."
The environment outside the immediate court was also a learning curve. In collegiate tennis, the coaches can be on the court with you. As of two years ago, professional on-court coaching is allowed in some tournaments, but the rules are stricter and it's not as prominent.
After defeating No. 1 seed Cross at the W75 Saguenay, Balus fell in the quarterfinals to Yuno Kitahara, 6-2, 4-6, 5-7, who is ranked No. 22 in WTA rankings.
"Sometimes in tennis, especially in tight matches, it's like two or three points make the difference, and she won those two or three points," Balus explained.
Even though her journey ended in the quarterfinals, the Canadian tournaments brought confidence to feed back into her college game.
"It's brought a lot of confidence to my overall game. College tennis is so different, especially in dual matches. Overall, my tennis game I feel more confident," Balus said.
Balus knows that the support from Duke is part of what made this possible. Head coach Jamie Ashworth, knowing Balus's desire to grow her confidence and play in individual tournaments this fall, encouraged her to compete in Canada and the rounds of Intercollegiate Tennis Association competition.
"I am extremely fortunate to have had Duke pay for this," Balus said. "I'm very grateful that I got to do this. It gave me a great head start because of my coaches and school's support."
That investment has already paid off. In September, Balus advanced to the quarterfinals of the singles main draw at the ITA All-American Championship in Cary, N.C., after three ranked wins. This secured her an invitation to the NCAA Singles Championships in November for the second straight year. With her quarterfinal appearance, she became one of only four Blue Devils to reach that stage in the past 12 seasons.
"Obviously the competition is going to be very strong," Balus said of the NCAA Championships. "It's the 64 best players in the nation. I'm excited it's going to be very competitive. I would say that's kind of how I thrive — with those really good players."
From rocketing in the world rankings to earning another shot on the national stage representing Duke, Balus has proven she can compete with the best; and that she is just getting started.
To stay up to date with Blue Devils women's tennis, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeWTEN".
#GoDuke
With her improved ranking, Balus was even recognized by the ITA as the "Rankings Riser Biggest Mover" recently following her impressive pair of events.
"It was just a really great experience. It exceeded my expectations," Balus said. "My expectations were to 'let's see where my level's at,' and it ended up being like, 'Wow I really can play with these great players.'"
The realization came through hard-earned wins across both tournaments, kicked off by fighting through qualifying to reach the main draw. In the W35 Quebec City, after defeating No. 14 seed Catherine Xie 6-1, 6-2 in qualifying, she beat Clemence Mercier 6-2, 7-6 (7-3) in the opening round and then upset top-seeded Viktoria Hruncakova, ranked No. 218 in the world, before falling to seventh seed Victoria Allen in the third round.
"The first tournament was very unique conditions. The courts were extremely fast. It was a matter of holding serve," Balus said. "I feel like winning that match in a tiebreak [against Mercier] really gave me confidence, because I was very happy with how I was holding my serve and how focused I was on my service games."
The confidence gained carried into the W75 Saguenay, where she quickly advanced from qualifying again, but the conditions required a quick adjustment.
"The second tournament the balls were different and the surface was way slower. I had to adjust to that," Balus said. "The first tournament really helped me for that second tournament -- the more matches you play; you get more confident."
After straight-set qualifying wins over Cristina Elene Tiglea (6-4, 6-0) and Melodie Collard (6-0, 6-4), she opened the main draw with a big win over Jessica Failla 6-4, 6-7 (3-7), 6-2. In the second round, Balus faced the No. 1 seed Kayla Cross, ranked 237 in the WTA. Despite this intimidating opponent, she battled to defeat Cross in three sets, 6-2, 2-6, 6-3.
"Winning against her really showed me that if I like, I can go play pro after college, because of the level I was competing at," said Balus. "It really showed me that if I focus 100% on tennis I can compete with these girls."
Beyond the impressive results, the experience gave Balus a firsthand taste of how different professional tennis feels from the college format. From no-ad scoring in college tennis to the difference in coaching rules, these shifts make a small but noticeable difference when shifting your mindset.
"When I look back, there were so many matches where we had long games with ad and deuce. In college, that wouldn't have happened," Balus said.
Professional events also remove the line-calling disputes common in collegiate play, where often only a chair official is present.
"There are controversial moments around that," Balus explained. "In professional tournaments, you have line judges and 99% of the calls are the right calls. You don't really have to focus on that aspect. In professional tennis, I just have to focus on playing this rally well and focus on the strategy, and that's it."
The environment outside the immediate court was also a learning curve. In collegiate tennis, the coaches can be on the court with you. As of two years ago, professional on-court coaching is allowed in some tournaments, but the rules are stricter and it's not as prominent.
After defeating No. 1 seed Cross at the W75 Saguenay, Balus fell in the quarterfinals to Yuno Kitahara, 6-2, 4-6, 5-7, who is ranked No. 22 in WTA rankings.
"Sometimes in tennis, especially in tight matches, it's like two or three points make the difference, and she won those two or three points," Balus explained.
Even though her journey ended in the quarterfinals, the Canadian tournaments brought confidence to feed back into her college game.
"It's brought a lot of confidence to my overall game. College tennis is so different, especially in dual matches. Overall, my tennis game I feel more confident," Balus said.
Balus knows that the support from Duke is part of what made this possible. Head coach Jamie Ashworth, knowing Balus's desire to grow her confidence and play in individual tournaments this fall, encouraged her to compete in Canada and the rounds of Intercollegiate Tennis Association competition.
"I am extremely fortunate to have had Duke pay for this," Balus said. "I'm very grateful that I got to do this. It gave me a great head start because of my coaches and school's support."
That investment has already paid off. In September, Balus advanced to the quarterfinals of the singles main draw at the ITA All-American Championship in Cary, N.C., after three ranked wins. This secured her an invitation to the NCAA Singles Championships in November for the second straight year. With her quarterfinal appearance, she became one of only four Blue Devils to reach that stage in the past 12 seasons.
"Obviously the competition is going to be very strong," Balus said of the NCAA Championships. "It's the 64 best players in the nation. I'm excited it's going to be very competitive. I would say that's kind of how I thrive — with those really good players."
From rocketing in the world rankings to earning another shot on the national stage representing Duke, Balus has proven she can compete with the best; and that she is just getting started.
To stay up to date with Blue Devils women's tennis, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeWTEN".
#GoDuke
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