Syracuse finishes weekend with 4-3 win over Clemson
Emily Steinberger | Photo Editor
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Syracuse clinched a 4-3 win over Clemson at the Duckworth Family Tennis Center in Clemson, South Carolina on Saturday, its fourth straight away match.
The Orange took the doubles point. Their No. 1 pair, Polina Kozyreva and Sofya Treshcheva, won the court 6-3. With Natalie Novotna and Viktoriya Kanapatskaya, the Orange tied 4-4 with Clemson on the second court when they were stopped, as Syracuse had already won the doubles point. Miranda Ramirez and Guzal Yusupova secured the third court 4-3, allowing Syracuse to head into singles play with a 1-0 lead over the Tigers.
Singles wasn’t a blowout, though. Clemson fought to make up for its doubles losses. The fifth, second and third courts were the first ones to finish in singles play — and all three were Tiger wins. After recent key wins on the sixth, freshman Ines Fonte (2-6, 4-6) moved up to the fifth court in this match but lost the first set after the promotion. Ramirez (2-6, 6-4, 0-6) fell at No. 3, and Yusupova (5-7, 3-6) lost on No. 2.
But then Novotna (6-2, 7-5) and Kozyreva (6-4, 6-3) each won a point for the Orange at No. 4 and No. 6, respectively, tying the score with one point remaining. Kanapatskaya, who has been on the first court nearly all season, was the tiebreaker. She won the last point (6-4, 7-5), allowing the Orange to come back with their second win of the weekend after defeating No. 11 Georgia Tech 4-3 on Friday.
Kanapatskaya is ranked as the No. 23 women’s singles player in the country, with a 7-3 record and 20.03 average. Novotna and Kanapatskaya were ranked as the No. 28 women’s doubles pair in the country, with a 5-4 record and 16.94 average.
Syracuse looks to finish out the regular season next weekend in two home matches at Drumlins Tennis Center. The Orange play No. 1 North Carolina on Friday and No. 13 Duke on April 11 The ACC tournament will take place in the last weekend of April.
Published on April 4, 2021 at 5:27 pm
Contact Ella: enplowma@syr.edu