Oklahoma Ousts Top Seed Texas to Advance to Semifinals at Women's D-I Team Indoor; Brenda Fruhvirtova Extends Winning Streak, Reaches a Second $25K Final in Argentina; Opelka and Brooksby Advance to Dallas Open Final; Kuzuhara Falls In Delray Beach Qualifying

Oklahoma's Emma Staker clinches win over Texas

 

Oklahoma is making its first appearance the ITA Women's Division I Team Indoor Championships and the Sooners are making the most of it. The No. 8 seeds defeated No. 1 seed and reigning NCAA champions Texas 4-1 late Saturday night to announce their emergence as one of the nation's top teams. 

It wasn't easy, of course, but the Corley sisters came through with wins at lines 2 and 3, and freshman Emma Staker roared back from a set down to claim the clinching point at line 6.

Oklahoma[8] 4, Texas[1] 1 

Singles
1. Peyton Stearns (UT) def. Layne Sleeth (OU) 7-5, 6-3
2. Carmen Corley (OU) def. Kylie Collins (UT) 6-1, 2-6, 6-3
3. Ivana Corley (OU) def. Charlotte Chavatipon (UT) 7-6(3), 6-2
4. Anchisa Chanta (OU) vs. Sabina Zeynalova (UT) 7-6(3), 6-5, unfinished
5. Vivian Ovrootsky (UT) vs. Alexandra Pisareva (OU) 4-6, 7-5, unfinished
6. Emma Staker (OU) def. Malaika Rapolu (UT) 6-4, 3-6, 6-0

Order of Finish: 3,1,2,6

1. Carmen Corley/Ivana Corley (OU) def. Kyle Collins/Sabina Zeynalova (UT) 6-3
2. Peyton Stearns/Charlotte Chavatipon (UT) vs. Layne Sleeth/Alexandra Pisareva (OU) 5-1, unfinished
3. Anchisa Chanta/Emma Staker (OU) def. Allura Zamarippa/Bella Zamarippa (UT) 6-3

Order of Finish: 3,1,2

No. 6 seed North Carolina State reached the semifinals of the ITA Indoors for the first time in program history Saturday, defeated No. 3 seed Georgia 4-2. Georgia had eight opportunities to secure the doubles point at lines 2 and 3, but the Wolfpack came back to win both 7-5. Lea Ma tied it up for the Bulldogs with a quick win at line 1, but NC State took four first sets in singles, and although three of the matches went to third sets, NC State held on for the win. 

NC State[6] 4, Georgia[3] 2

Singles
1. Lea Ma (UGA) def. Jaeda Daniel (NCST) 6-2, 6-1
2. Mell Reasco (UGA) vs. Abigail Renchli (NCST) 3-6, 6-2, 5-5
3. Priska Nugroho (NCST) def. Darja Vidmanova (UGA) 6-2, 6-3
4. Nell Miller (NCST) def. Anna Hertel (UGA) 6-4, 6-1
5. Sophie Abrams (NCST) def. Morgan Coppoc (UGA) 6-4, 1-6, 6-4
6. Meg Kowalski (UGA) def. Amelia Rajecki (NCST) 6-2, 4-6, 6-4

Order of Finish: 1,4,3,6,5

Doubles
1. Anna Hertel/Morgan Coppoc (UGA) def. Abigail Rencheli/Amelia Rajecki (NCST) 6-2
2. Nell Miller/Jaeda Daniel (NCST) def. Dasha Vidmanova/Mell Reasco (UGA) 7-5
3. Sara Nayar/Priska Nugroho (NCST) def. Meg Kowalski/ Guillermina Grant (UGA) 7-5

Order of Finish: 1,3,2

NC State's opponent in Sunday's semifinals is defending champion North Carolina, who, in contrast to the Wolfpack, is making its eighth consecutive appearance in the semifinals. The second-seeded Tar Heels lost the doubles point to No. 7 Virginia, but had no trouble in singles, earning a 4-1 victory by overwhelming the Cavaliers at the bottom of the lineup.

North Carolina[2] 4, Virginia[7] 1

Singles
1. Emma Navarro (UVA) vs. Cameron Morra (UNC) 6-1, 4-5, unfinished
2. Elizabeth Scotty (UNC) def. Elaine Chervinsky (UVA) 6-1, 6-1
3. Natasha Subhash (UVA) vs. Reilly Tran (UNC) 7-6(3), 1-0, unfinished
4. Fiona Crawley (UNC) def. Sofia Munera (UVA) 6-2, 6-3
5. Carson Tanguilig (UNC) def. Sara Ziodato (UVA) 6-3, 6-2
6. Anika Yarlagadda (UNC) def. Hibah Shaikh (UVA) 6-1, 6-0

Order of Finish: 2,5,6,4

Doubles
1. Emma Navarro/Amber O'Dell (UVA) def. Elizabeth Scotty/Fiona Crawley (UNC) 6-3
2. Elaine Chervinsky/Natasha Subhash (UVA) def. Cameron Morra/Carson Tanguilig (UNC) 6-4
3. Alle Sanford/Reilly Tran (UNC) def. Sofia Munera/Hibah Shaikh (UVA) 6-3

Order of Finish: 1,3,2

No. 5 seed Pepperdine avenged its 4-3 loss to Cal last month, with the Waves dropping the doubles point to the No. 4 seeds, but getting the four singles wins they needed. Five of the six singles matches went to a third set, but Pepperdine managed to claim wins at lines 1 and 2 after losing the first set to earn a place in the semifinals against Oklahoma.

Pepperdine[5] 4, Cal[4] 1

Singles
1. Shiori Fukuda (PEPP) d. Haley Giavara (CAL) 2-6, 6-4, 6-1
2. Lisa Zaar (PEPP) d. Valentina Ivanov (CAL) 3-6, 7-5, 6-0
3. Jessica Alsola (CAL) vs. Victoria Flores (PEPP) 6-7(14), 6-1, 2-2, unfinished
4. Janice Tjen (PEPP) def. Julia Rosenqvist (CAL) 7-5, 6-3
5. Katja Wiersholm (CAL) vs. Savannah Broadus (PEPP) 6-2, 5-7, 4-4, unfinished
6. Nikki Redelijk (PEPP) d. Hannah Viller Moeller (CAL) 6-3, 2-6, 6-0

Order of Finish: 4,1,6,2

Doubles
1. Haley Giavara/Valentina Ivanov (CAL) def. Victoria Flores/Lisa Zaar (PEPP) 6-4
2. Jessica Alsola/Katja Wiersholm (CAL) vs. Savannah Broadus/Janice Tjen (PEPP) 5-5, unfinished
3. Erin Richardson/Julia Rosenqvist (CAL) def. Shiori Fukuda/Anastasia Iamachkine (PEPP) 7-5

Order of Finish: 3,1

Fourteen-year-old Brenda Fruhvirtova of the Czech Republic has advanced to the finals of this week's $25,000 ITF World Tennis Tour tournament in Argentina, extending her winning streak to 10 matches with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Eli Mandlik of the United States. Fruhvirtova, who won her first pro title last week at the same location, received a special exemption into the main draw this week. She defeated No. 2 seed and WTA 230 Katharina Gerlach of Germany in the second round, and has yet to drop a set. In the final, Fruhvirtova will play top seed Paula Ormaechea of Argentina, who she defeated in the semifinals last week 6-1, 4-6, 6-4. 

Reilly Opelka and John Isner made history in at the ATP 250 in Dallas Saturday night, with Opelka, the No. 2 seed, defeating Isner, the No. 3 seed, 7-6(7), 7-6(22). The 24-22 tiebreaker was the longest in ATP history, extending back to the tour's formation in 1990. Opelka will face Jenson Brooksby, who saved four match points at 5-6 in the third set to deny Marcos Giron his first ATP final, posting a 6-4, 6-7(4), 7-6(5) win in just under three hours.

Both Bruno Kuzuhara and Victor Lilov received wild cards into the qualifying at next week's ATP 250 in Delray Beach Florida and the 17-year-old Americans dropped their first round matches today. Kuzuhara, the Australian Open boys singles and doubles champion, lost to No. 6 seed Bjorn Fratangelo 6-1, 7-5. I spoke to Kuzuhara (more of that conversation later this month at Tennis Recruiting Network) after the match, and he told me that he and Fratangelo, who both train at the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona, had done some training together, but not anything that could be described as a match, and he was a bit apprehensive to start.

"I knew going into it, it was my first tour match, and I would have been pretty nervous," said Kuzuhara, who had a break point to go up 5-4 in the second set. "I didn't get off to the best start, and I think it was also getting used to the dynamics of pro tennis. It's something to play practice sets, but when you play a match, the dynamics of each point and games is very different, just getting used to the speed of the ball, the depth of the ball was pretty tough for me in the first, but in the second, I just relaxed and I started playing a lot better."

"We get to practice sometimes, more like baseline points, a couple service games, but this was my first time truly playing a match with him," Kuzuhara said. 

Lilov, the 2021 Wimbledon boys finalist, lost to No. 3 seed Emilo Gomez(USC) of Ecuador 6-1, 6-3. 

Americans advancing to the final round of qualifying are Fratangelo and Stefan Kozlov, who play each other, and Ernesto Escobedo and Mitchell Krueger, who also play each other Sunday.