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Tennis

Syracuse advances to second round of the NCAA tournament, defeats Wisconsin 4-2

Corey Henry | Staff Photographer

Syracuse advanced to the second round for the second time in program history.

Entering Saturday, Syracuse had never lost a match this season when it won the doubles point. But the Orange had lost 10-straight doubles point, having not won one since March 15 against Virginia Tech. In Stanford, California, against No. 35 Wisconsin (18-6, 9-2 Big 10) in the first round of the NCAA tournament, the No. 31 Orange (14-12, 5-9 Atlantic Coast) snapped their double-digit streak and advanced to the second round, defeating the Badgers 4-2.

The pairing of No. 55 Gabriela Knutson and Miranda Ramirez got off to a hot start, going up a break, 3-1. They went down 15-40 in the game, but rallied back and tied it 40-40 as Knutson fired a forehand shot that split the Wisconsin pair. The next shot was returned out by the Badgers, giving the Orange the point. Knutson and Ramirez kept the momentum, with Knutson eventually sending a shot down the left line for the 6-1 win.

No. 81 Sofya Golubovskaya and Sonya Treshcheva also dominated, quickly going up 5-0. The pair had a chance to win 6-0, tied 40-40 and up 5-0 in the next set, but Golubovskaya hit a ball into the net after a lengthy rally. Treshcheva sniped a shot to the back corner for the win in the next game, however. 

It was a slower start for the Orange in singles play as only Guzal Yusupova and Dina Hegab won their first set. No. 88 Sara Castellano was the first to get on the board for Wisconsin, tying the match 1-1 after defeating No. 14 Knutson 6-3 6-2. The Badgers then took the lead as Golubovskaya was defeated by Lexi Keberle 6-1 6-3 at second singles. Golubovskaya tried to rally back from down 40-0 in the final game, but she lost it at 40-30 when her backhand went long.

Dina Hegab handled Melissa Pick at sixth singles, winning 6-1 6-1 to tie the match back up at two. No. 99 Ramirez lost her first set, 6-3, at third singles against Anna Makarova but rallied back to win the second by the same score. Ramirez went up a break 5-3 in the third set and was able to put Makarova away by forcing a long return.



Yusupova won the first set at fourth singles, 7-6, and went up two breaks to start the second. Leading 4-1 in the second set, she forced Ava Markham to return a shot long to win another game. A powerful shot down the right-end line forced match point in the next game, and Yusupova ultimately won on a short return from Markham that clinched the match for Syracuse.

This is the first time Syracuse has reached the second round since 2016 when it defeated No. 45 Georgia State 4-3 before falling to No. 1 Florida, 4-0. This year, the Orange, a No. 2 seed in their region, will face the winner of No. 1-seed Stanford and No. 4-seed New Mexico State in the next round. The second-round match is currently scheduled for 3 p.m. on Sunday.





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