The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
TCU
No. 8 Women’s Tennis wins, 4-1, at No. 40 TCU
04.12.2024 | Women's Tennis
With the win, the Longhorns secured the 2 seed and a first-round bye for the 2024 Big 12 Championship.
Fort Worth, Texas – No. 8 Texas Women's Tennis (18-4, 11-1) defeated No. 40 TCU (12-7, 7-5), 4-1, on Friday at the Friedman Tennis Center in Fort Worth. The win secured the 2 seed and a first-round bye for the Longhorns in next week's Big 12 Championship in Stillwater.
After clinching the doubles point with wins at Nos. 1 and 2, Texas earned singles wins from senior No. 20 Malaika Rapolu at No. 1, senior No. 119 Charlotte Chavatipon at No. 3, and freshman Shachf Lieberman at No. 6 for the clinch.
In doubles, the pair of Chavatipon and sophomore Vivian Ovrootsky were first off the court with a 6-4 win over Chiho Mushika and Yu-Chin Tsai. After TCU opened with a deuce-point hold, both teams stayed on serve until Texas earned a deuce-point break and consolidated it for 4-2. The two-game deficit would remain for the rest of the set, and a 6-4 win for Texas.
Following that, Lieberman and senior Taisiya Pachkaleva fell, 7-5, at No. 3 to Destinee Martins and Helena Narmont to even doubles. After TCU held to open the set, Texas held on a deuce point and broke to take a 2-1 lead before TCU broke on a deuce point and held regain the lead, 3-2. Tied at 3-3, Texas won consecutive games with a deuce-point break and a hold to go up, 5-3. TCU answered with a deuce-point break to fight off a match point and start a 4-0 run to the win.
In the deciding match, Rapolu and graduate Tanya Sasnouskaya defeated Jade Otway and Isabel Pascual, 7-6 (3). Neither team yielded a break throughout the match, and both teams picked up one deuce-point win on the way to a tiebreaker. In the breaker, Texas jumped out to a 4-0 lead, and from there, the teams exchanged points until Texas won, 7-3, to clinch the doubles point.
In singles, Rapolu made quick work of No. 121 Martins on No. 1 with an efficient 6-1, 6-1 win. In the first set, Rapolu took an early 2-0 lead before Martins managed to get a game back and make it 2-1. After that, Rapolu went on a 7-0 run with Martins finally snapping the streak for 3-1 in the second set before Rapolu closed it out. There were three deuce points throughout the match, and Rapolu won all three.
Chavatipon followed with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Otway on No. 2. Chavatipon immediately went up a break on a deuce point and consolidated to open the first set, 2-0, but Otway earned a deuce-point hold to get it back to 2-1. Following that, Chavatipon went on a 3-0 run to make it 5-1, and although Otway managed to get another game to make it 5-2, Chavtipon took the first set in the next game. Chavatipon won two out of three deuce points in the first set. In the second, Otway was the one to get out to a fast start, taking a 3-1 lead. However, Chavatipon found her momentum and rallied for a 4-0 run to take a 5-3 lead. Otway broke for 5-4 to stay alive, but Chavatipon broke right back for the win and the 3-0 Texas advantage.
The Longhorns suffered their only defeat of the day on No. 5 where Ovrootsky fell to Raquel Caballero, 6-3, 6-4. In the first set, both players stayed on serve until Caballero managed to go up a break, 4-2, and extended to 5-2 on serve. Ovrootsky earned a decue-point hold to continue the set, but Caballero held the ensuing game to win it. In the second set, Caballero opened with a break and a deuce-point hold to go up 2-0 before Ovrootsky went on a 3-0 run to take a 3-2 lead. However, Caballero responded with a 3-0 run and took a 5-3 lead before closing it out, 6-4.
The clinching match took place on court No. 6 where Lieberman defeated Narmont, 6-0, 6-4. Lieberman made quick work of Narmont in the first set with a 6-0 sweep. However, things didn't come as easy in the second. Narmont opened with a break to take a 1-0 lead before Lieberman earned a decue-point break and a hold to go up 2-1. Later in the set, Lieberman took a 5-2 lead on a deuce-point hold and was one game away from clinching the match, but Narmont rallied with a hold and a deuce-point break to close the gap to 5-4. However, Lieberman broke to win the second set, 6-4, and secure Texas' victory over TCU.
Two matches were then left unfinished. At No. 3, Sasnouskaya and Pascual had just begun their decisive third set when play was stopped. Sasnouskaya fell in the first set 6-3 after dropping three out of the four deuce points, but had rallied in the second set for a 6-4 win. At No. 4, Pachkaleva led Tsai, 7-6 (3), 2-4 when play was halted. Pachkaleva earned a tough 7-6 (3) win in the first set, which saw consecutive breaks by the players for a 4-3 lead for Pachkaleva and 4-4, but Tsai had gotten out to a 3-0 lead in the second set on the way to a 4-2 margin when Lieberman cliched.
Up next, the Longhorns close out the regular season in Waco on Sunday, April 14, at 1 p.m. against No. 34 Baylor.
#8 Texas 4, #40 TCU 1
Singles – Order of Finish (1,2,5,6)
1. Malaika Rapolu (TEXAS) def. #58 Destinee Martins (TCU) 6-1, 6-1
2. Charlotte Chavatipon (TEXAS) def. Jade Otway (TCU) 6-2, 6-4
3. Isabel Pascual (TCU) vs. Tanya Sasnouskaya (TEXAS) 6-3, 4-6, unf.
4. Yu-Chin Tsai (TCU) vs. Taisiya Pachkaleva (TEXAS) 6-7 (4), 4-2, unf.
5. Raquel Caballero (TCU) def. Vivian Ovrootsky (TEXAS) 6-3, 6-4
6. Shachf Lieberman (TEXAS) def. Helena Narmont (TCU) 6-0, 6-4
Doubles – Order of Finish (2,3,1)
1. Malaika Rapolu/Tanya Sasnouskaya (TEXAS) def. Jade Otway/Isabel Pascual (TCU) 7-6 (3)
2. Charlotte Chavatipon/Vivian Ovrootsky (TEXAS) def. Chiho Mushika/Yu-Chin Tsai (TCU) 6-4
3. Destinee Martins/Helena Narmont (TCU) def. Taisiya Pachkaleva/Shachf Lieberman (TEXAS) 7-5
Players Mentioned
