The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
TCU
No. 9 Women’s Tennis wins 4-2 at No. 61 TCU
03.31.2023 | Women's Tennis
The Longhorns win their sixth-straight match to improve to 16-3 overall (6-1 Big 12) on the season.
FORT WORTH, Texas — The No. 9 University of Texas Women's Tennis team posted a 4-2 victory at No. 61 TCU on Friday afternoon at the Friedman Tennis Center. The Longhorns (16-3, 6-1 Big 12) earned the doubles point and won three of the first five singles matches against the Horned Frogs (9-6, 1-4 Big 12) to record their sixth-consecutive dual-match victory.
Texas took a 1-0 advantage after claiming the doubles point. The No. 41-ranked duo of junior Charlotte Chavatipon and sophomore Sabina Zeynalova earned an impressive 6-2 victory on court 1 over the No. 67-ranked tandem of Yu-Chin Tsai and Helena Narmont. Chavatipon and Zeynalova won the opening three games and built a 5-1 cushion before closing out the win to move to 9-2 in dual-match doubles play this spring.
The pair of freshman Nicole Rivkin and junior Taisiya Pachkaleva clinched the doubles point for the Longhorns with a 6-4 win on court 2 against Mercedes Aristegui and Jade Otway. Aristegui and Otway won the opening two games of the match, before Rivkin and Pachkaleva claimed back-to-back games to even the score. Tied at 4-4, Rivkin and Pachkaleva held serve and then closed out the victory with a service break to improve to 12-4 overall in doubles, including a 10-4 mark in dual-match action.
TCU evened the overall dual-match score at 1-1 when No. 123 Aristegui posted a 6-3, 6-4 victory on court 2 against No. 66 Chavatipon. The loss snapped a six-match win streak in singles dual-match play for Chavatipon.
No. 110 Zeynalova responded with a 7-6 (7-3), 6-0 win on court 3 over Otway. Otway raced out to a 5-0 advantage in the opening set, before Zeynalova answered by winning six-straight games to take a 6-5 lead. Otway held serve to force a first-set tie breaker. Zeynalova won five of the first six points in the breaker to build a 5-1 cushion, but Otway claimed back-to-back points to trim the margin to 5-3. Zeynalova won consecutive points to close out the breaker and then posted a shutout in the second set to move to 13-4 overall in singles this year, including a 12-2 mark in dual-match play.
Pachkaleva gave the Longhorns a 3-1 lead with a 6-2, 6-4 victory on court 4 against Tsai. Tied at 2-2 in the opening set, Pachkaleva ran off four-straight games to claim the first set. Even at 2-2 in her second set, Pachkaleva won two of the next three games to take a 4-3 advantage. Leading 5-4 later in the set, Pachkaleva held serve to finish off her win and improve to 14-2 overall in singles this season, including a 12-2 mark in dual-match action.
Tiphanie Lemaitre posted a 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) win on court 1 over freshman Nicole Khirin to trim the score to 3-2. Khirin fought back from a 3-0 deficit in the second set to win four-straight games and take a 4-3 lead. The second set remained on serve from there and moved into a tie breaker, where Lemaitre broke a 5-5 tie by winning the next two points to close out the match.
Rivkin clinched the overall dual-match victory for the Longhorns with a 6-4, 5-7, 6-0 victory on court 6 against Narmont. Tied at 3-3 in her opening set, Rivkin won back-to-back games to build a 5-3 cushion before closing out the 6-4 set win. She built a 5-2 cushion in the second set, before Narmont rallied to win five-straight games and even the match at one set apiece. Rivkin responded by pitching a shutout in the decisive third set to improve to 13-5 overall in singles this season, including an 11-4 mark in dual-match play.
The remaining singles match featuring junior Malaika Rapolu on court 5 against Destinee Martins was stopped when Rivkin finished her victory. Martins jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the opening set. Rapolu won three of the next four games to pull to within 5-4, but Martins held serve to close out the 6-4 set win. Rapolu built a 5-3 advantage in the second set, before Martins won three-straight games to take a 6-5 lead. Rapolu held serve to force a tie breaker. Tied at 2-2 in the breaker, Rapolu claimed three-straight points to grab a 5-2 advantage and cruised to the 7-3 win. The third set was tied at 1-1 when the match was stopped.
Texas returns to the courts when it travels to face No. 33 Texas Tech in a Big 12 Conference match on Sunday, April 2. First serve is set for 12 p.m. Central at the McLeod Tennis Center in Lubbock, Texas.
#9 Texas 4, #61 TCU 2
Singles – Order of finish (2, 3, 4, 1, 6)
- Tiphanie Lemaitre (TCU) def. #76 Nicole Khirin (UT), 6-3, 7-6 (7-5)
- #123 Mercedes Aristegui (TCU) def. #66 Charlotte Chavatipon (UT), 6-3, 6-4
- #110 Sabina Zeynalova (UT) def. Jade Otway (TCU), 7-6 (7-3), 6-0
- Taisiya Pachkaleva (UT) def. Yu-Chin Tsai (TCU), 6-2, 6-4
- Malaika Rapolu (UT) vs. Destinee Martins (TCU), 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 1-1, unfinished
- Nicole Rivkin (UT) def. Helena Narmont (TCU), 6-4, 5-7, 6-0
Doubles – Order of finish (1, 2)
- #41 Charlotte Chavatipon/Sabina Zeynalova (UT) def. #67 Helena Narmont/Yu-Chin Tsai (TCU), 6-2
- Nicole Rivkin/Taisiya Pachkaleva (UT) def. Mercedes Aristegui/Jade Otway (TCU), 6-4
- Nicole Khirin/Malaika Rapolu (UT) vs. Destinee Martins/Tiphanie Lemaitre (TCU), 5-5, unfinished
Players Mentioned
