The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
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Bianca Turati advances to semifinals at ITF Hilton Head pro event
09.28.2018 | Women's Tennis
Junior All-American outlasts Allura Zamarripa (USA) in 3-hour, 16-minute classic in Friday’s quarterfinal match.
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. — University of Texas junior All-American Bianca Turati rallied for a 6-7 (7-4), 6-3, 6-3 victory against Allura Zamarripa (USA) on Friday in the quarterfinals at the ITF (International Tennis Federation) pro circuit event at Van Der Meet Shipyard Racquet Club.
The three-set match lasted three hours and 16 minutes. Turati advances to face Justina Mikulskyte (Lithuania) in Saturday's semifinals.
In a tightly-contest opening set that lasted one hour and 23 minutes, Turati had three service-break chances while tied at 5-5. Zamarripa managed to hold serve, and Turati held serve to force a tiebreak. Zamarripa won the first three points of the tiebreak and built a 6-2 cushion, before Turati won two straight points to close within 6-4. Zamarripa then claimed the ensuing point for the first-set win.
Zamarripa broke Turati to open the second set, but Turati responded by winning three consecutive games to build a 3-1 lead. After Zamarripa narrowed the margin to 4-3, Turati broke Zamarripa and held serve to close out the second set.
Turati gained a 2-0 advantage in the final set, but Zamarripa answered back by winning the next two games. Turati then broke Zamarripa and held serve to build a 4-2 lead. Zamarripa held serve to draw within 4-3, but Turati held serve and finished the match with her 11th service break of the day to advance to the semifinal round.
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.
To follow action at the ITF Hilton Head tournament, visit the tourney web site. Fans are also encouraged to follow UT's official Twitter (@TexasWTN) for results and additional information.
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