Morgan Cross - Women's Tennis - Arkansas Razorbacks

Morgan Cross

Senior | 5-6 | Wales, U.K. | Ralph Allen Bath

T-7th – Career Doubles Wins (32, w/Spink)
8th – Career Doubles Win Percentage (.725, w/Rice)

2023-24 CSC Academic All-District
2022-24 SEC Academic Honor Roll
2021-23 ITA Scholar-Athlete
2021 SEC All-Freshman Team
SEC Player of the Week (3/2/22)

Senior (2023-24)
Cross opened her final season at Arkansas with a 5-3 singles record and 8-5 doubles record before the dual season. In singles, Cross advanced to the Round of 32 at the ITA Central Region Championships and recorded a three-match winning streak before the start of the dual season. At the ITA All-American Championships, Cross and Indianna Spink defeated No. 8 Duong/Heuser (Illinois) in three sets to collect their first of three ranked victories together. Cross and Spink reached the quarterfinals of the doubles draw at the ITA Central Region Championships as the duo carried a three-match winning streak into the dual season, including a victory over No. 56 Dunlap/Kuearum (Iowa State). Cross registered a 5-9 dual singles record with all five wins coming at the No. 5 position and clinched ranked victories for the Razorbacks over No. 15 South Carolina and No. 48 Northwestern while earning a singles point in the match against No. 63 Kentucky. In doubles, Cross and Spink extended their winning streak to seven matches after a 4-0 start to the spring together, including another top-10 victory against No. 8 Brown/Miller (Michigan) at the ITA Kickoff Weekend. Cross then teamed up Anet Koskel in February as the duo won six of their first seven matches, including a ranked victory over No. 40 Cabezas/Tomase (Tennessee). Cross and Koskel picked up their final ranked win against No. 33 I. Canete/M. Canete (Missouri) and finished the season 7-7 together at the No. 1 position while Cross ended the year with a 4-3 dual record and 11-6 overall record alongside Spink. Cross closed out the season ranked No. 51 with Spink and No. 82 with Koskel in the final ITA doubles rankings. Cross and Spink conclude their careers tied for the seventh-most career doubles wins by an Arkansas pair in program history (32).

Junior (2022-23)
Morgan played primarily at the No. 5 spot for the Razorbacks through the dual season, posting a 15-5 overall record. Cross started out the dual season on a six-match win streak, forcing a huge doubles tiebreak over Florida State at the ITA Kickoff Weekend. At the start of conference play, Cross lost her first three matches and then went on to go 9-1 through the end of SEC play. Cross’ win over Auburn’s Adeline Flach led the Razorbacks to the upset over No. 12 Auburn. In doubles play, Morgan and her partner Indianna Spink posted a 15-4 overall record at the top position for the Razorbacks.

Sophomore (2021-22)
In her sophomore season, Morgan Cross posted a 10-8 singles record at the No. 5 position and a 13-6 doubles record on court one with partner Tatum Rice, ending the season with a final ITA ranking at 54. In the fall, Cross and Rice competed in the ITA National Fall Championships defeating Stanford’s Madurawe/Yepifanova in the Round of 32 to advance to the Round of 16 where they fell to Old Dominon’s No. 57 Sasnouskaya/Starodubsteva. The duo finished fall competition with a 10-3 record. At the end of the season, Cross and Rice finished seventh in program history in career doubles win percentage (.725) after playing together from 2020-22. Cross earned her first SEC Player of the Week honor after clinching the win over No. 36 SMU, the Razorbacks first win over a ranked opponent in the dual season. Cross continued to roll into conference play, winning seven straight matches at the No. 5 position. Cross was a key component to the Razorbacks’ eight conference wins, clinching a win over Ole Miss and helping lead Arkansas to six doubles point wins. 

Freshman (2020-21)
SEC All-Freshman Team… Morgan played exclusively at the No. 4 position for the Razorbacks throughout the dual season. Morgan had a dominant start to begin spring competition, winning seven straight matches and clinching the win over Kansas State to help lead Arkansas to its best start since 2005. Cross ended her season with a 9-3 record at home. In doubles, Morgan found early success with doubles partner Indianna Spink. The duo recorded a 12-5 record, advancing to the quarterfinals of the ITA Central Regional and helping the Razorbacks win the doubles point in the first six matches of the spring season. Morgan and Tatum Rice soon partnered up and won three straight at the No. 1 spot for the Razorbacks. As a duo, they recorded huge wins over Texas A&M’s No. 20, Makarova and Goldsmith and Auburn’s No. 69, Flach and Axon. In the first round of the NCAA Tournament, the duo finished first after coming back from a deficit to win three-straight games over Old Dominion and earn the Razorbacks the doubles point. The duo debuted in the ITA Doubles ranking at No. 72 and ended the season at No. 38 with a 6-2 record.

Prior to Arkansas
Morgan is one of the elite tennis players in the U.K. and is ranked inside the top 15 nationally. Cross has represented Wales and Great Britain since the age of 11 and has won multiple championships and medals. In 2018, she participated in The Junior Championships at Wimbledon and made it through to the round of 16. The same year Morgan also clinched the United Kingdom home nations championships. In 2017, Cross represented Great Britain and qualified for the Tennis Europe Winter Cup U16’s girl’s final, won the bronze medal at the youth Commonwealth Games in the Bahamas and secured 11 ITF junior doubles titles between 2017-19.

Personal
A native of Wales, U.K., Morgan is daughter to Jan and Jon Cross. She has two older brothers, Jamie and Ben who are twins. The Cross’ also have a cockapoo spaniel called Wilson. Outside of tennis, Morgan enjoys playing golf with her family, watching films and listening to music. Academically, Morgan thrived in high school and completed her core GCSE’s (English and Maths) at the early age of 15. Morgan hopes to major in International Business.