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In Syracuse’s second game of the 2024 season, head coach Younes Limam changed his lineup, creating three entirely different doubles duos than its first match against Army just a day prior.

In Saturday’s match Shiori Ito paired with Miyuka Kimoto on the first doubles team while Viktoriya Kanapatskaya and Polina Kozyreva represented the No. 2 duo. Ines Fonte and Anastasia Sysoeva were paired for the No. 3 team.

Sunday’s look was completely altered as Ito and Kanapatskaya were the first, Kimoto and Sysoeva were the second and Fonte and Kozyreva were third. For Limam, the early portion of the season is a time for experimentation.

“It’s early on in the season so we are figuring things out,” he said. “(We’re) just trying to come up with new options.”

The change of partners did not seem to bother Syracuse and specifically Fonte as Syracuse (2-0, 0-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) defeated Fordham (0-2, 0-0 Atlantic 10 Conference) 7-0 to move to 2-0 in its 2024 campaign. Fonte continued her great start to the season following a comfortable victory in her singles set and two doubles sets against Army.

Despite starting with Kozyreva instead of Sysoeva, Fonte thrived. The duo faced Fordham’s Eleni Fasoula and Camila Baeza. The two teams traded game victories in the first two sets, making for a longer match than the doubles matches on the other two courts. The match was the only one being played after the rest of SU’s team won their doubles contests.

With all eyes on Fonte and Kozyreva, they meticulously wore the Fordham duo down. Before long, a 6-4 victory ensued, securing a clean sweep of doubles matchups for the Orange.

However, it was in her singles matchup where Fonte really stood out. Playing in the No. 4 spot, she took on Fordham’s Anlin Xie. From the start of their match, Fonte athletically responded to Xie’s attacks, gliding across the court to make a full-extension save and keep the rally going. Fonte went up 5-1 in the opening set.

The match was delayed for over ten minutes to attend to Xie as she dealt with a bloody nose. While the athletic trainer was treating Xie, Fonte attempted to stay loose by dancing around the court.

The delay seemed to be in Xie’s favor at first. She won the first game after the delay to cut Fonte’s lead to 6-2. The momentum was short-lived as Fonte bounced back and won the first set 6-2.

The second set was similar to the first as Fonte used her strong first serve to put Xie in an uncomfortable position time and again during the match. On the occasion that Xie was able to return Fonte’s serve, Fonte flew around the court to hit the ball back. When a ball seemed unreachable, she returned with a sliding backhand to win a point.

The second set was put away 6-2 and Fonte earned Syracuse its fourth – and game-winning – team point. As a team, Syracuse has started the season with four players who have not lost a single set – Fonte being one of them.

“(Fonte) plays with a lot of confidence,” Limam said. “(She) knows exactly what to do.”

Published on January 21, 2024 at 5:19 pm