The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Wisconsin
No. 10 Women’s Tennis sweeps No. 25 Wisconsin, 7-0
02.03.2024 | Women's Tennis
The Longhorns defeated the Badgers without dropping a set at the Weller Indoor Tennis Center on Saturday afternoon for their third consecutive win.
Austin – No. 10 Texas Women's Tennis (3-1) claimed a 7-0 sweep against No. 25 Wisconsin (3-2) on Saturday afternoon at the Weller Indoor Tennis Center, completing the match without dropping a set.
After taking the doubles point with wins at Nos. 1 and 3, the Longhorns received singles victories from graduate No. 20 Tanya Sasnouskaya at No. 2, senior Taisiya Pachkaleva at No. 5, sophomore Vivian Ovrootsky at No. 6, junior Sabina Zeynalova at No. 1, senior No. 45 Malaika Rapolu at No. 4, and senior No. 106 Charlotte Chavatipon at No. 3.
In doubles, the tandem of Zeynalova and Pachkaleva finished first by taking down No. 50 Maria Sholokhova and Alina Mukhortova, 6-1, at No. 1. The Horns opened the match with a deuce-point hold followed by a break for a 2-0 advantage. Wisconsin broke back in the third game for their only win of the match, but the Longhorns closed on a 4-0 run with the last two games decided at deuce to earn the first doubles win.
On court 3, Ovrootsky and Chavatipon claimed the doubles point for Texas by defeating Ariel Johnson and Taylor Cataldi, 6-3. The match's first four games were all brakes with Wisconsin claiming a deuce point in the fourth game. Both teams then went on to hold the next two games before Texas finished the match on a 3-0 run.
Rapolu and Sasnouskaya's match at No. 2 against Xinyu Cai and Ellison Reynoldson was knotted at 4-4 when play was halted. The Texas duo began the match on a 3-0 run before Wisconsin answered with a hold then a break for 3-2. Texas broke back by taking a deuce point, but Wisconsin broke then held a deuce point for 4-4.
In singles play, Sasnouskaya was the first to finish, registering a 6-4, 6-0 win on court 2 over Mukhortova. Both players held the first five games with Sasnouskaya holding on the set's only deuce points in games one and three. The graduate broke for 4-2, but Mukhortova would respond with a break then a hold for 4-4. However, it was all Sasnouskaya from there as she answered with an 8-0 run to close out the match. The run saw her win three deuce points for 1-0, 2-0 and 4-0 en route to Texas' first singles and 2-0 team lead.
Pachkaleva was the next to finish with a 7-5, 6-0 victory over Kaja Jacobson on court 5. With Pachkaleva opening with a 3-0 run and later leading 5-3, Jacobson broke on a deuce point then held to even the first set, 5-5. The Texas senior responded by closing out the first set with a deuce-point hold then a break to begin what turned out to be another 8-0 run by a Longhorn to win the match. Pachkaleva broke the second set's only deuce point in the fourth game.
The clinching match for Texas was Ovrootsky's 7-5, 6-2 win over Ariel Johnson on court 6. Ovrootsky earned the match's first break by claiming a deuce point for a 4-3 advantage. Later in the set, Johnson would get the break back for 5-5, but the Longhorn sophomore responded by breaking a pivotal deuce point for 6-5 and following with a hold to win the first set. In the second, Ovrootsky got out to a 2-0 lead before Johnson managed to hold a deuce point. Ovrootsky would go on to hold for 3-1, then break on a deuce point for 4-1. Johnson broke back in the following game, but Ovrootsky clinched the match for Texas with a break and a hold.
Zeynalova would add to the Longhorns' lead with a 6-3, 6-2 win over No. 61 Maria Sholokhova at No. 1. Both players held the first five games, which featured three games decided by deuce point. Zeynalova claimed the deuce points in games one and five, while Sholokhova claimed the deuce point in game four. The next three games were all brakes before Zeynalova ended the trend by winning the first set on serve. With Zeynalova leading 4-2 in the second set, the final two games were decided by deuce points in her favor to win the match.
At No. 4, Malaika Rapolu defeated No. 87 Xinyu Cai, 6-1, 7-5. Cai held her serve to open the match, but Rapolu responded with a 9-0 run to win the first set and provide a 3-0 lead in the second. However, Cai's deuce-point hold for 3-1 started a 3-0 run to even it. Both players would hold serve for the next five games before Rapolu closed out the match with a break.
Chavatipon completed the sweep for Texas with a 7-6 (2), 7-6 (1) victory over Taylor Cataldi at No. 3. In the first set, Chavatipon held a deuce point for 5-3, but Cataldi would take the next three games for a 6-5 advantage. However, Chavatipon held to force tiebreaker and then jumped out to a 4-0 lead in that frame. At 4-1, Chavatipon held her next two serves for 6-1 and then closed out two points later with a minibreak. Similar to the first set, Chavatipon led 5-3, and this time had match points at deuce in both of the next two games, but Cataldi fended those off and evened the contest, 5-5. Both players held their remaining serves to set up another tiebreaker. With the score 1-1 at the start of the second tiebreaker, Chavatipon would close out match with an 6-0 run to finalize the 7-0 sweep for Texas.
Texas will return to the Weller Indoor Tennis Center on Sunday, Feb. 4, to take on No. 4 Georgia at 10 a.m. CT.
#10 Texas 7, #25 Wisconsin 0
Singles – Order of Finish (2,5,6,1,4,3)
1. Sabina Zeynalova (UT) def. #61 Maria Sholokhova (WIS) 6-3, 6-2
2. #20 Tanya Sasnouskaya (UT) def. Alina Mukhortova (WIS) 6-4, 6-0
3. #106 Charlotte Chavatipon (UT) def. Taylor Cataldi (WIS) 7-6 (2), 7-6 (1)
4. #45 Malaika Rapolu (UT) def. #87 Xinyu Cai (WIS) 6-1, 7-5
5. Taisiya Pachkaleva (UT) def. Kaja Jacobson (WIS) 7-5, 6-0
6. Vivian Ovrootsky (UT) def. Ariel Johnson (WIS) 7-5, 6-2
Doubles – Order of Finish (1,3)
1. Sabina Zeynalova/Taisiya Pachkaleva (UT) def. #50 Maria Sholokhova/Alina Mukhortova (WIS) 6-1
2. Malaika Rapolu/Tanya Sasnouskaya (UT) vs. Xinyu Cai/Ellison Reynoldson (WIS) 4-4, unf.
3. Vivian Ovrootsky/Charlotte Chavatipon (UT) def. Ariel Johnson/Taylor Cataldi (WIS) 6-3
Players Mentioned
