By Do-Hyoung Park on August 15, 2013

It was announced Wednesday that former Cardinal tennis star Nicole Gibbs had been awarded one of eight wild-card entries into the main draw of the U.S. Open. Gibbs’ entrance into the tournament represents an opportunity for her to re-establish herself on an international stage after a discouraging early exit from the Bank of the West Classic almost a month ago.

During her time competing for the Cardinal, Gibbs quickly established herself as one of the strongest players in the country. As a freshman, she advanced all the way to the semifinals of the NCAA Singles Championships and finished the season ranked 12th in the nation.

However, it was in her sophomore and junior years that she truly cemented her elite status as she cruised to two straight NCAA singles titles, a doubles title and a team title during those two seasons combined. In doing so, she became only the second player in Stanford history to claim all three titles in a career.

After Gibbs forwent her senior year at Stanford to turn pro, the three-time All-American rose to as high as No. 166 in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) rankings. She recently claimed a championship at a professional tournament in Yakima, Wash. and will look to make a deeper run into a Grand Slam tournament after a second-round exit in the Australian Open and a first-round exit at Wimbledon earlier this year.