Junior Caitlin Bui winds up to hit a forehand against her opponent. (Photo Courtesy of Caitlin Bui)

Three Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) All-American honors, two First-Team All-University Athletic Association (UAA) recognitions, and one national championship: These are just a few of the awards women’s tennis star junior Caitlin Bui accumulated during her first two years as a collegiate athlete. On Sunday, Oct. 18, Bui added yet another achievement to her list of accolades: a first-place finish in the ITA Cup Singles Final. Bui is the first person in program history to win this elite fall tournament.

Bui started playing tennis when she was 5 years old, even though her parents never played the sport. Her father played recreational baseball at a field down the road from a tennis center in Queens, New York, and decided he would enroll his daughter in a tennis class to see if she liked it.

“It all just started with lessons, and then I just got really into it,” Bui said. “And then with my dad taking me to practice and tournaments, he started getting really invested in it [too].”

At age 10, Bui began to play in junior tennis tournaments, which provided opportunities to play high-level opponents in a competitive atmosphere. When Bui started the college recruitment process in high school, she gained interest from several schools, but WashU was the only university she actually visited. After speaking to Head Coach Paige Madara, Bui immediately connected with the school for its academic rigor and strong athletics program.

“I just on a whim was like ‘Yep, WashU’s the place,’” Bui said. “And then it all kind of just worked out.”

When Bui arrived on campus for her first year in 2024, she noticed differences between junior and collegiate tennis. Until this point in her career, Bui was accustomed to year-round tournament competition. However, in collegiate tennis, there are two distinct seasons — spring and fall — that have clear breaks between them. Without continuous play, Bui found having to stop and start her gameplay momentum a challenge. Managing WashU’s rigorous academic coursework was also difficult for Bui, especially in her first year.

Collegiate tennis also provided Bui with a new competitive atmosphere: a team sport. Junior tennis is very individually focused — there are no club teams, just individuals that sign up for tournaments. Bui worked with a private coach throughout junior tennis until the COVID-19 pandemic. After this, Bui practiced in group lessons, but the participants were not a part of a team. A team dynamic forced Bui to shift her mindset from personal responsibility to accountability.

“Back in [junior tennis], when you lost, it was all on you,” Bui said. “But when you’re on a team, you have so much more fight in you because you’re playing for something bigger.”

Bui especially feels this sense of accountability when she plays with her doubles partner, senior Eleanor Archer. The two were paired up to practice together during Bui’s first week of collegiate practice. Bui said that during their first practice set together, she and Archer immediately clicked.

“Our game styles really fit well together,” Bui said. “She’s a big aggressive player at the net, but then I really like the baseline game, so I can set her up for those shots.”

The Bui-Archer dynamic duo has been a strong point of the Bears’ roster since Bui’s arrival to campus. The duo earned back-to-back ITA Fall Regional title wins and won the ITA Cup Doubles Final in 2025. Archer and Bui made it to the 2025 NCAA Doubles Quarterfinal, where they were ranked No. 4 in the nation.

Since the ITA Fall Regional in late September, Bui has listened to “Streetcar” by Daniel Caesar “for like 10 minutes before each match.” The song is notably melancholy, but ever since she first listened to it before a match, Bui says her game has been the best it’s ever been.

“I don’t know what it did, but it’s just funny because it works,” Bui said.

Now in her junior year, Bui feels that her game has “grown the most” this fall season. To Bui, the fall season is more individually focused, as fall competition does not impact rankings in the spring.

“[The fall season] is more of a way to gauge your game and have that individual growth moment before the team comes together in the spring,” Bui said.

This fall, Bui’s personal goal for herself was focused on feeling good about her game, rather than material wins.

“I didn’t really care about the results at all, to be honest,” Bui said.

However, while Bui focused on self-development, the material accomplishments still seemed to follow. From Oct. 15 to Oct. 18, Bui competed in both the singles and doubles tournaments (with Archer) at the ITA Cup in Rome, Georgia. The ITA Cup is the last and most prestigious tournament of the fall season: Only the top two finishers in each region qualify to play. The Bui-Archer duo concluded their tournament run in the doubles semifinal, but Bui went on to win the singles final — becoming the first Bear in program history to win the tournament.

“[I tried] to just take [the tournament] one point at a time,” Bui said. “If I don’t overcomplicate or overthink things, I could just play the way I want, and it worked out well.”

This fall semester, a typical day for Bui starts with classes around 10 a.m. The team lifts on Mondays and practices Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday for two hours after class. However, these two-hour practices actually take up to four hours of Bui’s day when taking pre-practice preparation and post-practice recovery into account.

For the rest of the day, you can find Bui studying in Olin Library until midnight. Specifically, Bui likes the busy first floor because it allows her to both be productive and catch up with friends that pass by. 

“It’s a good social thing for me as well,” Bui said. “So I’m not really locked in all of the time I’m at Olin. It’s also an excuse to see people.”

Looking toward the spring season, Bui is excited for the shift from individual focus to team focus. She is eager to travel and make more fun memories with her teammates on and off the court. Some of her favorite memories happen on away trips, including studying with her teammates in the hotel lobby and eating celebratory team dinners after major wins.

“I feel like that’s when you really get to be a team and support each other,” Bui said.

Bui and WashU women’s tennis look to the spring season with anticipation and a hunger to acquire a second national championship title after placing second last year.