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No. 1 Women’s Tennis defeats SMU, 5-2
01.21.2023 | Women's Tennis
Chavatipon, Rivkin and Zeynalova earn victories in both doubles and singles play on Saturday afternoon.
AUSTIN, Texas — The No. 1 University of Texas Women's Tennis team (2-0) claimed a 5-2 victory over SMU (2-1) on Saturday afternoon at the Texas Tennis Center. Junior Charlotte Chavatipon, sophomore Sabina Zeynalova and freshman Nicole Rivkin all posted individual wins in both singles and doubles action on Saturday.
Texas grabbed an early 1-0 lead by claiming the doubles point. The duo of Chavatipon and Zeynalova earned an impressive 6-1 victory on court 1 against the No. 32-ranked pair of Jackie Nylander and Taylor Johnson. Tied at 1-1, Chavatipon and Zeynalova captured five-straight games to close out their match. The pair of Rivkin and junior Taisiya Pachkaleva raced out to a 5-0 advantage and cruised to a 6-1 win on court 2 over Drew Morris and Maja Makoric to clinch the doubles point.
In singles play, Zeynalova won her opening eight games en route to posting a 6-0, 6-1 victory on court 3 against Nylander. Chavatipon increased UT's lead to 3-0 with a 6-4, 6-2 win on court 1 over No. 113 Hadley Doyle. Trailing 4-3 in her opening set, Chavatipon claimed nine of the next 11 games to finish out her victory. SMU responded with a Lana Mavor 6-4, 6-0 win over sophomore Grace Thomas on court 6 and added a Morris 6-4, 6-3 victory against Pachkaleva on court 4 to pull to within 3-2.
Rivkin provided the clinching point for the Longhorns with a 7-5, 6-7 (4-7), 6-1 win on court 5 over Makoric. Makoric held a 5-2 advantage in the opening set, but Rivkin rallied to record five-straight games and earn a 7-5 first-set win. After Makoric took the second set in a tiebreaker, Rivkin won the first two games of the third set. Makoric claimed the following game to climb to within 2-1. Rivkin then ran off four-straight games to close out the 6-1 third-set victory.
Junior No. 85 Malaika Rapolu concluded Saturday's action with a hard-fought 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-5) victory on court 2 against Johnson. Rapolu faced a 3-1 deficit in the first-set breaker before claiming six of the next seven points to close out the set. With the second-set breaker tied at 5-5, Rapolu won back-to-back points to finish out her victory.
Texas returns to action when it hosts Tulane on Sunday, Jan. 22. First serve is set for 11 a.m. Central at the Texas Tennis Center.
#1 Texas 5, SMU 2
Singles – Order of finish (3, 1, 6, 4, 5, 2)
- Charlotte Chavatipon (UT) def. #113 Hadley Doyle (SMU), 6-4, 6-2
- #85 Malaika Rapolu (UT) def. Taylor Johnson (SMU), 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-5)
- Sabina Zeynalova (UT) def. Jackie Nylander (SMU), 6-0, 6-1
- Drew Morris (SMU) def. Taisiya Pachkaleva (UT), 6-4, 6-3
- Nicole Rivkin (UT) def. Maja Makoric (SMU), 7-5, 6-7 (4-7), 6-1
- Lana Mavor (SMU) def. Grace Thomas (UT), 6-4, 6-0
Doubles – Order of finish (1, 2)
- Charlotte Chavatipon/Sabina Zeynalova (UT) def. #32 Jackie Nylander/Taylor Johnson (SMU), 6-1
- Nicole Rivkin/Taisiya Pachkaleva (UT) def. Drew Morris/Maja Makoric (SMU), 6-1
- Grace Thomas/Malaika Rapolu (UT) vs. Hadley Doyle/Lana Mavor (SMU), 4-3, unfinished
Players Mentioned
