The fourth-ranked University of Florida women's tennis team capped its season-opening eight-match homestand with a solid 6-1 victory over No. 11 Duke on Saturday afternoon at Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex.
The Gators (8-0) carried their momentum from winning the doubles point onto the singles courts, where they won five of the six matches en route to their 49th consecutive regular-season home win. Duke dropped to 3-2 this season, with all five matches ending in a 6-1 decision.
“Overall, I'm really pleased. We're not playing as well as we can, but I think we showed that we are a very tough team,” Florida head coach Roland Thornqvist said. “On some courts, we couldn't hit the ball in the ocean but we found a way to battle through those. I thought we did a tremendous job competing through some tough times. Today's win also showed how good we are at home. Our players really thrive at being at home and take pride in playing in front of their fans and in the home win streak.”
Florida received doubles victories from the tandems of Megan Alexander and Diana Srebrovic and Csilla Borsanyi and Anastasia Revzina, before collecting singles wins from Srebrovic, Revzina, Whitney Benik, Borsanyi and Nina Suvak.
Florida took a 2-0 lead when Diana Srebrovic earned a win on court No. 1 after Daniela Bercek retired after losing the first set 7-5 due to injury. There were two breaks midway through that first set and another back-to-back breaks in the ninth and 10th games before Srebrovic held and broke Bercek at love to take the set.
Revzina produced the first completed singles win, earning a 6-3, 6-2 decision over Clelia Deltour at the No. 6 spot in one hour and 16 minutes. The first set was a battle featuring five service breaks. Revzina, however, collected the crucial break in the eighth game and held serve for the opening frame. The two competitors traded breaks to begin the second, before Revzina won several close games and managed breaks in the fifth and seventh games to earn the win.
Benik provided the clinching dual match victory, recovering from a slow start to take the 6-3, 6-3 decision over Tory Zawacki. The Gator junior lost her first two serves and found herself trailing 3-1 before ripping of the next five games to take the opening set. Benik and Zawacki traded serves to begin the second before a three-break run in the middle of the frame saw Benik emerge with a 4-3 lead, as she held and earned one final break to take the win and clinch the dual match.
On court No. 3, freshman Csilla Borsanyi earned an impressive 6-0, 7-5 victory over Duke's 77th-ranked Elizabeth Plotkin. The Gator rookie dominated the Blue Devil freshman in the first set and won all the big points, even breaking Plotkin in the sixth game after falling behind 40-0. Plotkin found her game in the second set and earned the first break in the fifth game. Borsanyi, however, broke right back, but couldn't hold, as Plotkin held to take a 5-3 lead. Borsanyi then held at love and broke Plotkin to continue the second set, s she held and earned her fifth break of the match to earn the win.
Senior Nina Suvak also rallied from an early deficit and emerged with a 1-6, 6-0, 6-3 victory over Amanda Granson on court No. 5. After losing the first set quickly, Suvak found her stroke early in the second and rode that to a bagel and force a deciding third set, as most of the other courts were still in their first set. Granson earned the early advantage in the third, breaking Suvak to begin the set. Suvak broke right back and the next five games were on-serve before the Gator senior earned an important break in the eighth game and served out to earn her eight consecutive singles win.
Florida next travels to Tallahassee for its first road match of the season, playing instate rival Florida State on Wed., Feb. 28 beginning at 4 p.m. ET.
Women's College Tennis
No. 11 Duke at No. 4 Florida
Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex
Gainesville, Fla.
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Final Score: Florida 6, Duke 1
Doubles
No. 1 Daniela Bercek/Melissa Mang, Duke d. Whitney Benik/Nina Suvak (20), UF 8-6
No. 2 Megan Alexander/Diana Srebrovic (39), UF d. Elizabeth Plotkin/Jessi Robinson, Duke 8-3
No. 3 Csilla Borsanyi/Anastasia Revzina, UF d. Amanda Granson/Tory Zawacki, Duke 8-4*
Singles
No. 1 Diana Srebrovic (30), UF d. Daniela Bercek, Duke 7-5, retired (injury)
No. 2 Melissa Mang, Duke d. Megan Alexander (24), UF 6-3, 5-7, 1-0 (10-4)
No. 3 Csilla Borsanyi (47), UF d. Elizabeth Plotkin (77), Duke 6-0, 7-5
No. 4 Nina Suvak, UF d. Amanda Granson, Duke 1-6, 6-0, 6-3
No. 5 Whitney Benik, UF d. Tory Zawacki, Duke 6-3, 6-3*
No. 6 Anastasia Revzina, UF d. Clelia Deltour, Duke 6-3, 6-2
Order of Finish: Doubles-2, 3, 1; Singles-1, 6, 5, 3, 4, 2
*indicates clinching doubles/dual match
END OF REPORT
