Now one of the most decorated athletes in Stanford history, Nicole Gibbs is looking for a new challenge: Sneak into the main draw at one of the most prestigious tournaments for professionals.

She capped a historic career Monday with her second straight NCAA singles title. She defeated Mary Weatherholt of Nebraska 6-2, 6-4 in a match in which she controlled from the beginning.

Gibbs, a junior, also finished her Stanford career with a doubles championship last year and a team title this year. She will be playing qualifiers at Wimbledon and competing at this year’s US Open in New York as a professional.

Gibbs made a statement on her first service game, falling behind 0-40. But she reeled off five consecutive points to hold serve, and she followed that with back-to-back breaks on Weatherholt’s serve for a quick 4-0 lead. Weatherholt’s inability to get her first serves consistently opened the door for strong returns from Gibbs on the second serve, especially on the second game of the match.

“Especially with how much nervousness I had coming into the match, getting that first game was very crucial, especially from down 0-40, that’s a statement to my opponent that I’m going to be the whole match,” Gibbs said. “That was a really important game for me to get mentally, and I think that translated to my physical success.”

Gibbs, later in the set, was broken twice, but proceeded to attack Weatherholt’s much-lighter second serve. She broke at love to get her one game from taking the set. At 5-2, she broke again to take the set after a long forehand error gave her the point.

Weatherholt again had an opportunity to break on the first game of the set in the second. This time she capitalized on Gibbs double faulted. Weatherholt was serving and ahead when Gibbs evened the set on a return on the second serve. The two exchanged breaks until Gibbs held her service game at 3-3 after Weatherholt came up limping on game point.

She said she had injured her right knee on the first game of that point when Weatherholt came up to the net for what looked like an easy winner but hit it long.

“It didn’t make a difference in the match,” said Weatherholt, who has had three surgeries on the right knee, most recently in September. She said she didn’t know the exact injury she suffered.

After the short break when players crossed over, Weatherholt held easily, even though the knee was noticeably bothering her. After Gibbs held for a 5-4 lead, Weatherholt called for a medical timeout. But that didn’t make much of a difference. On the next service game, Gibbs used a drop shot to test Weatherholt’s ability to quickly change directions after being the beneficiary of a backhand error. Weatherholt staved off one championship point but couldn’t fight off the second, as she hit an overhead shot that went long.

Gibbs and Weatherholt never played each other until Monday, but Gibbs prepared for Weatherholt’s flat returns after her semifinal win Sunday. Gibbs, who completed six consecutive days of singles competition without dropping a set, said she tried to play Weatherholt’s forehand more heavily than her backhand. Gibbs throughout the match extended points with her deep returns, making Weatherholt hit the extra shot, which led to costly unforced errors for the Nebraska senior.

So how does Stanford replace a three-time All-American who will now turn pro?

“You never do,” head coach Lele Forood said.

Darshan can be reached at [email protected] and @drshnpatel.