The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
#48 TCU
No. 7 Women’s Tennis tops No. 48 TCU, 4-3
04.05.2019 | Women's Tennis
Sophomore Bojana Markovic rallies for a three-set victory at fourth singles to earn the deciding point.
AUSTIN, Texas — The No. 7 University of Texas women's tennis team posted a hard-fought 4-3 victory against No. 48 TCU (12-6, 4-2 Big 12) on Friday evening at the Texas Tennis Center. In winning the back-and-forth match that lasted over three hours, the Longhorns improved to 12-3 overall (5-0 Big 12) and remain in first place in the league standings.
Sophomore Bojana Markovic proved to be the hero for the Longhorns, rallying for a three-set victory at fourth singles against TCU's Mercedes Aristegui to claim the deciding point.
TCU grabbed an early 1-0 lead by winning the doubles point. The Horned Frogs' duo of Aristegui and Kate Paulus registered a 6-3 victory against UT's sophomore tandem of Fernanda Labraña and Markovic at third doubles.
Junior twin sisters Anna and Bianca Turati, playing at the top doubles line for the first time in their collegiate career, answered with an impressive 6-2 win against the No. 42-ranked tandem of Ellie Douglas and Aleksa Cveticanin. The Turati twins, ranked No. 86 nationally, jumped out to a 3-0 lead. After TCU's duo won back-to-back games to close within 3-2, the Turati twins won four consecutive games to close out the match and improve to 9-2 in dual-match doubles action this spring.
TCU's Chloe Hule and Stevie Kennedy clinched the doubles point with a come-from-behind 7-5 victory against junior Petra Granic and freshman Tijana Spasojevic at second doubles. Tied at 3-3, Granic and Spasojevic won back-to-back games to build a 5-3 advantage. After TCU's pair won the following game to pull within 5-4, the Texas duo had three match points but could not close out the contest. Hule and Kennedy won each of the final three games on deuce points to post the 7-5 victory.
The Longhorns opened singles play with a pair of straight-set wins to take a 2-1 advantage. No. 39 Anna Turati won her 11th consecutive singles match with a dominant 6-2, 6-0 victory against Cveticanin at second singles. No. 52 Granic followed with a 6-2, 6-1 win against Paulus at third singles, improving to 8-1 in dual-match singles play this spring.
TCU's No. 73 Douglas registered a 6-4, 6-3 win against No. 17 Bianca Turati at first singles to even the match at 2-2. Senior Katie Poluta improved to 10-1 in dual-match singles this spring and gave the Longhorns a 3-2 cushion with a 6-1, 6-4 victory against Kennedy at the No. 6 line. Hule responded by rallying for a 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 against Labraña at fifth singles to even the match score at 3-3.
That set the stage for the heroics from Markovic at fourth singles. Aristegui won the first set 6-0 and held a 3-0 advantage in the second set. Markovic, ranked No. 120 nationally, won four consecutive games to take a 4-3 lead, before Aristegui answered to win the following game and even the set at 4-4. Markovic then won consecutive games to close out the second set 6-4. In the decisive third set, Markovic raced out to a 5-2 cushion, before Aristegui won back-to-back games to climb within 5-4. With Aristegui serving down 30-40, Markovic hit a strong forehand volley that forced Aristegui to hit into the net and earn the match victory for the Longhorns.
Texas continues Big 12 Conference play when it hosts No. 29 Texas Tech (15-5, 5-1 Big 12) on Sunday, April 7. First serve for the Texas-Texas Tech match is set for 12 p.m. Central at the Texas Tennis Center, and the match will be televised live nationally by Longhorn Network.
#7 Texas 4, #48 TCU 3
Singles – Order of finish (2-3-1-6-5-4)
- #73 Ellie Douglas (TCU) def. #17 Bianca Turati (UT), 6-4, 6-3
- #39 Anna Turati (UT) def. Aleksa Cveticanin (TCU), 6-2, 6-0
- #52 Petra Granic (UT) def. Kate Paulus (TCU), 6-2, 6-1
- #120 Bojana Markovic (UT) def. Mercedes Aristegui (TCU), 0-6, 6-4, 6-4
- Chloe Hule (TCU) def. Fernanda Labraña (UT), 2-6, 6-2, 6-2
- Katie Poluta (UT) def. Stevie Kennedy (TCU), 6-1, 6-4
Doubles – Order of finish (3-1-2)
- #86 Anna Turati/Bianca Turati (UT) def. #42 Ellie Douglas/Aleksa Cveticanin (TCU), 6-2
- Chloe Hule/Stevie Kennedy (TCU) def. Petra Granic/Tijana Spasojevic (UT), 7-5
- Mercedes Aristegui/Kate Paulus (TCU) def. Fernanda Labraña/Bojana Markovic (UT), 6-3
Players Mentioned
