Houston tennis offseason tracker

Houston tennis enters the 2026-27 season with a new roster outlook top-to-bottom, in large part due to the departures of its four seniors, Gabriela Cortes, Chems Doha Zeghlouli, Elizaveta Morozova and Sophie Schouten, who spearheaded an 11-0 start to the season, as well as opening the campaign with eight consecutive sweeps.

First-year head coach Valeriya Zeleva will oversee a different core of Cougars. Here’s the latest on the program’s new additions.

Houston welcomes Natálie Cinková

After spending two seasons with Denver, Natálie Cinková is transferring and has signed with Houston for the upcoming 2026 fall season, as announced via Parson Nemati on Instagram and X, with two years of eligibility.

Cinková led the Pioneers with 27 singles wins and tied for the most doubles wins on the roster. She was named to her second All-Summit League Team and Academic All-League team in the 2025-26 season.

The Switzerland native helped lead Denver to a conference tournament title with consecutive 4-0 wins over Oral Roberts and North Dakota, before falling to No. 16 Arizona State 4-0 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Freshmen Andraina Mitia Voavy and Vladislava Razina join program

Houston tennis announced the signing of two new players for the upcoming 2026-27 season, with coach Valeriya Zeleva welcoming freshman duo Andraina Mitia Voavy and Vladislava Razina on Tuesday.

Voavy joins Houston from Reunion Island, France. She represents Madagascar internationally, where she won a trio of victories at the 2023 Billie Jean King Cup.

Last season with the Tennis Club de Coulommiers, Voavy went undefeated in eight matches while her team posted a perfect 5-0 record.

Razina joins the Cougars, hailing from Minsk, Belarus, where she was a two-time Singles National Champion, two-time Doubles National Champion, five-time ITF Junior Champion and seven-time finalist. 

The 2025 season was her best stretch, marked by multiple deep title runs, including a J60 title win in Baku, Azerbaijan.