The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
15k Hilton Head
Bianca Turati captures singles title at ITF 15k Hilton Head pro event
09.30.2018 | Women's Tennis
Junior All-American posts straight-set win against Michaela Bayerlova (Czech Republic) in Sunday’s final.
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. — University of Texas junior All-American Bianca Turati registered a 7-6 (7-0), 6-2 victory against Michaela Bayerlova (Czech Republic) on Sunday morning to win the singles title at the International Tennis Federation (ITF) pro circuit 15k tournament at Van Der Meet Shipyard Racquet Club. Bayerlova is No. 601 in the current WTA (Women's Tennis Association) world singles rankings.
Sunday's victory marked Turati's third ITF pro circuit singles championship this year. She previously claimed back-to-back singles titles in August at the 15k events in Biella, Italy and Sezze, Italy.
With Bayerlova leading 5-2 in the first set and 40-15, Turati fought off a pair of set points and managed to hold serve to get to 5-3. Turati then broke Bayerlova and held serve again to tie the set at 5-5. After both players held serve to force a tiebreak, Turati won all seven points in the breaker to capture the opening set.
Tied at 1-1 in the second set, Turati won three consecutive games to build a 4-1 advantage. Bayerlova held serve to pull within 4-2, but Turati responded by holding serve and breaking Bayerlova for the fourth time in the match to close out her championship victory.
"We are all incredibly proud of Bianca for the week she has had in Hilton Head," Texas associate head coach Taylor Fogleman said. "She always represents The University of Texas in such a first-class manner. The biggest takeaway from this week is the fact that Bianca didn't quite have her best stuff, yet she still found a way to the title. The future for Bianca and the rest of our team is so bright, we just have to keep working."
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.
Turati will next compete at the ITF 25k event in Charleston, S.C. Round of 32 singles main draw action in Charleston is scheduled to begin on Tuesday, Oct. 2.
Players Mentioned
