CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 20 Virginia women’s tennis team (7-3, 1-1 ACC) knocked off No. 10 Duke (11-2, 1-1 ACC) with a 4-3 win on Sunday afternoon at the Virginia Tennis Facility at the Boar’s Head Resort.
The match came down to the finals singles court as Sara Ziodato clinched the win with her 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 win on court four.
UVA started the match strong by winning the doubles point to take a 1-0 edge. Elaine Chervinsky and Natasha Subhash teamed up for a 6-2 win on court two. Duke tied it up with a win on court three, leaving the point up to court one. With the set tied 4-4, Julia Adams and Melodie Collard won the next two points to secure the doubles point and a 6-4 win at one.
It turned out to be a huge point as Duke and Virginia split the singles matches. Duke won the first two singles points to take a 2-1 lead in the match. UVA tied it up 2-2 when Natasha Subhash won in straight sets on court two. Virginia took a 3-2 advantage with Hibah Shaikh’s straight-set win at five. Shaikh battled to a 6-2 tiebreak win in the opening set.
That left courts four and six remaining. Ziodato was in a tight competition in the second set as they traded points. Collard had sent her match to a third set after dropping the first set but winning 6-1 in the second….
