The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
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No. 9 Women’s Tennis falls to No. 8 UCLA in NCAA Round of 16
05.10.2024 | Women's Tennis
The Longhorns concluded their season with a 4-1 decision to the Bruins in Los Angeles.
Los Angeles – No. 9 Texas Women's Tennis (23-6, 12-1 Big 12) fell to No. 8 UCLA (21-5, 9-1 Pac-12), 4-1, on Friday at the Los Angeles Tennis Center. The Longhorns concluded their season with at least 23 wins for the fourth-straight year.
Texas came up just short in the doubles point in a tiebreaker of the deciding match, and after graduate No. 42 Tanya Sasnouskaya evened the overall match with a singles win at No. 4, the Bruins won singles contests at Nos. 1, 3 and 6 to clinch. The Longhorns were in second-set tiebreakers in two other matches at Nos. 2 and 4 when play ended.
After UCLA took the doubles point, Sasnouskaya claimed a 7-5, 6-2 win over Elise Wagle. Wagle broke first for a 2-1 lead that she consolidated to 3-1, but Sasnouskaya responded with a 3-0 run of her own to lead, 4-3. Wagle reclaimed it with the next two games for 5-4, but Sasnouskaya put together another a 6-0 run to take the first set and establish a 3-0 lead in the second. The next two games stayed on serve until Sasnouskaya broke again for 5-1 on the way to the 6-2 win, evening the overall score at 1-1.
Moments later, the Bruins went back up with a win at No. 1 where junior No. 30 Sabina Zeynalova was downed by No. 32 Tian Fangran, 6-2, 6-4. Fangran picked up an early break on a deuce point for a 2-0 lead, starting a streak of four-straight breaks between the players that left Fangran up, 4-2. The last of those would be the start of a 4-0 run for Fangran to take the set and open the second with a 1-0 lead. Fangran again broke first in that set for a 3-1 lead, but Zeynalova broke back and held to even it, 3-3. It stayed on serve from there until Fangran broke again on a deuce point to win, 6-4.
UCLA extended its lead to 3-1 as senior No. 85 Charlotte Chavatipon fell to No. 73 Bianca Fernandez, 7-6 (2), 6-4 at No. 3. In a back and forth first set, Fernandez broke on a deuce-point in the opening game, but Chavatipon broke right back. The set stayed on serve from there until Chavatipon broke on a deuce point for 5-3, but Fernandez came back on a 3-0 run that included a deuce-point break for a 6-5 lead. Chavatipon kept the set alive by breaking back to get to a tiebreaker where she took the first point, but Fernandez set out on a 4-0 run on the way to a 7-2 win. The second set then featured six deuce points, however it stayed on serve for the first five games to a 3-2 lead for Fernandez despite three deuce points in that span. Fernandez followed with the first break for 4-2, which set off a string of four straight breaks for the players, the last of which Chavatipon won on a deuce point. However, Fernandez then held on a deuce point for the match.
The clinch came at No. 6 where sophomore Vivian Ovrootsky was downed by Ahmani Guichard, 6-0, 4-6, 6-4. Although Guichard swept the first set including two deuce points, Ovrootsky won three of the first four games of the second set on deuce points for a 3-1 lead that she then increased to 4-1. Guichard responded with a 3-0 run to tie it, including a deuce-point break, but Ovrootsky captured the next two games with a deuce-point break of her own for the win. That would be the start of a 5-0 run for Ovrootsky, who posted a 3-0 lead in the third set. The next three games then stayed on serve despite Guichard facing a deuce point while down, 4-1, but she managed to hold to stay within 4-2 and begin a 5-0 run to the finish, during which she held twice more on deuce points.
In the remaining two singles matches, senior No. 20 Malaika Rapolu had forced a second-set tiebreaker in her match at No. 2, but was trailing No. 27 Kimmi Hance by a set, 3-6, 6-6 (6-3). Hance broke in the opening game, which would be the only break until she did so again for 5-2. Rapolu broke back for 5-3, but so did Hance for the set. In the second, the first five games were all breaks until Rapolu held for 4-2 and broke again for 5-2. However, Hance went on a 4-0 run for a 6-5 lead, until Rapolu held for a tiebreaker. There, Rapolu had just broken a 3-3 tie with a 3-0 run for a set point when play stopped.
The other contest had senior No. 122 Taisiya Pachkaleva leading Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer, 6-3, 6-6 (3-4) at No. 5. In the first set, Pachkaleva turned a 2-2 tie into a 5-2 lead on her way to a 6-3 win. She then trailed, 3-0, in the second set, but rallied for a 5-4 lead. The players then alternated the next three games to a tiebreaker where Pachkaleva started with a 2-1 lead, but Lutkemeyer went on a 3-0 run until Pachkaleva claimed the final point before play halted.
Earlier in doubles, the duo of Chavatipon and Ovrootsky was first off the court with a 6-3 win over Guichard and Sasha Vagramov. Five of the first six games of the match were breaks, starting with UCLA breaking in the opening game. However, Texas broke right back before holding on a deuce point and breaking again for a 3-1 lead, which they extended to 4-2 after two more breaks. The Longhorns snapped the string of breaks with a hold for 5-2, and the last two games stayed on serve to the win for Chavatipon and Ovrootsky.
UCLA answered on court 1, as the No. 19 duo of Zeynalova and Pachkaleva fell to the No. 13 pair of Fangran and Wagle, 6-2. The Bruins got out to a 4-0 lead on the strength of two deuce-point breaks in the first and third games, and the rest of the match stayed on serve with no games reaching deuce to the final.
That left it to court 2 where the No. 34 tandem of Rapolu and Sasnouskaya came up just short in a tiebreaker against the No. 42 pair of Hance and Lutkemeyer, 7-6 (5). Texas got out to a 3-0 lead that included two deuce-point wins for a hold and break in the first two games. After the Longhorns consolidated their break, the Bruins went on a 5-0 run for the lead. Rapolu and Sasnouskaya held in the next game to pull within 5-4, and then fended of a match point at deuce to break and even it, 5-5. The next two games also went to deuce with the Longhorns holding for 6-5, and although they lead in the next game, 15-40, the Bruins rallied to send it to the tiebreaker where they continued their run by winning the first four points. After the teams exchanged 2-0 runs for a 6-2 lead for UCLA, Texas fought off three match points to pull within 6-5, but the Bruins finally captured the point they needed for the win.
#8 UCLA 4, #9 Texas 0
Singles – Order of Finish (4,1,3,6)
1. #32 Tian Fangran (UCLA) def. #30 Sabina Zeynalova (TEXAS) 6-2, 6-4
2. #27 Kimmi Hance (UCLA) vs. #20 Malaika Rapolu (TEXAS) 6-2, 6-6 (3-6), unf.
3. #73 Bianca Fernandez (UCLA) def. #85 Charlotte Chavatipon (TEXAS) 7-6 (2), 6-4
4. #42 Tanya Sasnouskaya (TEXAS) def. Elise Wagle (UCLA) 7-5, 6-2
5. A. Lutkemeyer (UCLA) vs. #122 Taisiya Pachkaleva (TEXAS) 3-6, 6-6 (4-3), unf.
6. Ahmani Guichard (UCLA) def. Vivian Ovrootsky (TEXAS) 6-0, 4-6, 6-4
Doubles – Order of Finish (3,1,2)
1. #13 Tian Fangran/Elise Wagle (UCLA) def. #19 Sabina Zeynalova/Taisiya Pachkaleva (TEXAS) 6-2
2. #42 Kimmi Hance/A. Lutkemeyer (UCLA) def. #34 Malaika Rapolu/Tanya Sasnouskaya (TEXAS) 7-6 (7-5)
3. Charlotte Chavatipon/Vivian Ovrootsky (TEXAS) def. Ahmani Guichard/Sasha Vagramov (UCLA) 6-3
Players Mentioned
