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Bianca Turati wins marathon Round of 32 singles match at ITF Lubbock pro event
09.18.2018 | Women's Tennis
Junior All-American defeats WTA-ranked No. 398 Tara Moore in 3-hour, 32-minute classic on Tuesday evening.
LUBBOCK, Texas — University of Texas junior Bianca Turati outlasted Tara Moore (Great Britain) 7-6 (7-2), 6-7 (5-7), 6-4 in a 3-hour, 32-minute marathon on Tuesday evening in the Round of 32 at the ITF (International Tennis Federation) pro circuit event at McLeod Tennis Center. Moore is currently No. 398 in the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) world singles rankings.
After dropping her final qualifying-round match on Monday night, Turati was selected as the "lucky loser" and received a spot in the tournament's main draw. With her victory on Tuesday, she advances to face Jennifer Elie (USA) in the Round of 16 on Wednesday. Elie is No. 453 in the WTA singles rankings.
In the opening set of Tuesday's match, Moore won the first two games before Turati responded to capture the next three straight and take a 3-2 lead. Moore broke Turati to even the score at 3-3, and both players held serve for the next six games to force a tiebreak. Tied 2-2 in the tiebreak, Turati won the next five points to close out the first-set win.
Moore jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the second set, before Turati answered by winning the next three games to trim the margin to 4-3. After Moore held serve to move to 5-3, Turati held serve and then broke Moore to tie the set at 5-5. Both players traded service breaks to force another tiebreak. Turati held a 4-0 lead in the tiebreak, before Moore responded with six consecutive points and evened the match with a 7-5 win.
With the score tied 2-2 in the decisive final set, Turati broke Moore in the fifth game and then held serve to build a 4-2 cushion. Turati then held serve in her next two opportunities to finish off the victory.
Turati is No. 1 in the Oracle/ITA preseason women's collegiate national singles rankings. The 2018 Big 12 Conference Player of the Year posted a 28-4 overall singles mark and ended her sophomore season at No. 3 in the final Oracle/ITA Division I singles rankings. Turati spent nearly three months atop the ITA women's single rankings and produced a 16-2 dual-match record for the Longhorns at the No. 1 singles position in 2018. She became the first UT player to top the ITA singles rankings since Kelly Pace in 1995.
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