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No. 6 Women’s Tennis opens Big 12 play with 4-3 victory over No. 15 Oklahoma
03.03.2024 | Women's Tennis
The Longhorns rallied with four singles wins to defeat the Sooners in a Red River conference opener on Sunday afternoon.
Austin – No. 6 Texas Women's Tennis (8-3, 1-0) opened Big 12 Conference play with a 4-3 victory over No. 15 Oklahoma (5-4, 0-1) on Sunday afternoon at the Texas Tennis Center.
After Oklahoma won the doubles point, the Longhorns received singles victories from seniors No. 36 Malaika Rapolu at No. 3, Taisiya Pachkaleva at No. 5, and No. 125 Charlotte Chavatipon at No. 4, along with junior No. 22 Sabina Zeynalova at No. 1 for the clinch.
Rapolu earned Texas' first win of the match with an efficient 6-2, 6-2 win over No. 98 Ava Catanzarite on court 3. Rapolu opened the match on a 3-0 run before Catanzarite managed a deuce-point hold for 3-1. With Rapolu leading 4-1, Catanzarite collected another deuce-point hold for 4-2. Rapolu would then go on to win the set's two remaining games, which grew into a 4-0 run into the second set. With Rapolu leading 2-0 in the second, Catanzarite held then broke on a deuce-point for 2-2. Rapolu responded with another 4-0 run, which featured two deuce-point breaks to close out the match and even the overall score at 1-1.
Graduate No. 33 Tanya Sasnouskaya fell in her match to No. 93 Julia Garcia Ruiz, 6-1, 6-3, at No. 2 to give Oklahoma a 2-1 advantage. In the first set, five of the seven games were decided by deuce points, with Garcia Ruiz winning four of those five. In the second set, four of the nine games came down to deuce points, with Garcia Ruiz claiming three of the four. Garcia Ruiz led 3-0 to open the second set, before Sasnouskaya earned a deuce-point hold for 3-1. At 4-1, Sasnouskaya collected a hold followed by a break for 4-3, and had another deuce point that might have put the set back on serve, but Garcia Ruiz broke back then held on a deuce point to win the match.
On court 5, Pachkaleva defeated Roisin Gilheany, 6-2, 6-3 to even the overall match again at 2-2. Pachkaleva earned the match's first break in the fourth game for 3-1, which began a streak of three-straight breaks between the players. With Pachkaleva the leading, 4-2, she held on a deuce point for 5-2 then broke on a deuce point to win the set. The second set began with Gilheany claiming two games decided by deuce points, but Pachkaleva responded with a 3-0 run for 3-2. With Pachkaleva leading, 4-3, she broke then held to win the match.
The next match to finish was sophomore No. 103 Vivian Ovrootsky against Emma Staker on court 6 with Staker emerging with a 6-4, 6-3 win. With the first set tied, 3-3, Staker took consecutive deuce points for 5-3. Ovrootsky broke to narrow Staker's lead to 5-4, but Staker broke back to take the first set. Staker led the second set 4-0 before Ovrootsky held serve for 4-1. Staker then held on a deuce point in the following game for 5-1, but Ovrootsky would battle with a hold then a break for 5-3. However, Staker broke back in the next game to give Oklahoma the lead in the overall match once again, 3-2. Ovrootksy and Staker's match featured five games decided by deuce point with Staker claiming all of them.
Chavatipon knotted the match at 3-3 with a 6-1, 4-6, 6-1 win over Chloe Noel on court 4. After Chavatipon opened the match with a break and a hold, Noel held serve for 2-1. Chavatipon would go on to close out the first set on a 4-0 run, which saw her collect a deuce-point break in the process for 4-1. At 1-1 in the second set, the next three games were broken for a 3-2 Noel lead. Noel then held and broke for 5-2. Chavatipon responded with a deuce-point break then a hold for 5-4, but Noel would hold serve in the next game to force a third set. However, Chavatipon opened that set on a 5-0 run on the way to a 6-1 win.
With all eyes on the deciding court at No. 1, Zeynalova defeated No. 38 Dana Guzman, 7-5, 6-1, to clinch the match for Texas. Guzman led the first set 5-2 before Zeynalova stormed back with a 5-0 run to win the set. The run saw Zeynalova claim three consecutive deuce points for 5-3, 5-4, 5-5 that were set points for Guzman. Zeynalova's momentum carried into the second set where Guzman's only win was a hold in the first game. The Texas junior swept the rest of the set as part of winning 11 of the final 12 games to clinch the conference opener for the Horns.
Earlier in the doubles, Oklahoma claimed the point with wins at Nos. 2 and 1. Sasnouskaya and Rapolu first fell in their match to the No. 52 duo of Garcia Ruiz and Zdena Safarova, 6-2, at No. 2. The Oklahoma tandem jumped out to an early 4-0 advantage before Sasnouskaya and Rapolu ended the streak with a hold followed by a break for 4-2. Garcia Ruiz and Safarova the broke back for 5-2 and closed out the match in the following game.
At No. 1, No. 11 Pachkaleva and Zeynalova fell to Guzman and Gilheany, 6-2. Similar to the match on court 2, the Oklahoma duo won the first four games with the fourth being on a deuce-point hold. At 4-0, both teams went on to hold their remaining serves, giving OU the doubles point.
Chavatipon and Ovrootsky's match against Noel and Catanzarite at No. 3 was then left unfinished with the Sooners leading, 5-4. The unfinished match was back and forth, featuring five lead changes with no lead greater than one game. At 4-4, Oklahoma held for 5-4 before play was stopped.
The Longhorns will be back at the Texas Tennis Center on Friday, March 8, at 2 p.m. CT to take on West Virginia.
#6 Texas 4, #15 Oklahoma 3
Singles – Order of Finish (3,2,5,6,4,1)
1. #22 Sabina Zeynalova (UT) def. #38 Dana Guzman (OU) 7-5, 6-1
2. #93 Julia Garcia Ruiz (OU) def. #33 Tanya Sasnouskaya (UT) 6-1, 6-3
3. #36 Malaika Rapolu (UT) def. #98 Ava Catanzarite (OU) 6-2, 6-2
4. #125 Charlotte Chavatipon (UT) def. Chloe Noel (OU) 6-1, 4-6, 6-1
5. Taisiya Pachkaleva (UT) def. Roisin Gilheany (OU) 6-2, 6-3
6. Emma Staker (OU) def. #103 Vivian Ovrootsky (UT) 6-4, 6-3
Doubles – Order of Finish (2,1)
1. Dana Guzman/Roisin Gilheany (OU) def. #11 Sabina Zeynalova/Taisiya Pachkaleva (UT) 6-2
2. #52 Julia Garcia Ruiz/Zdena Safarova (OU) def. Malaika Rapolu/Tanya Sasnouskaya (UT) 6-2
3. Charlotte Chavatipon/Vivian Ovrootsky (UT) vs. Chloe Noel/Ava Catanzarite (OU) 4-5, unf.
Players Mentioned
