W. Tennis Begins Action at Marliss Gruver Fall Invite
By Alex Schwartz
HurricaneSports.com
AUBURN, Ala. – The University of Miami women’s tennis team opened play Friday at the Marliss Gruver Fall Invitational, held at the Yarbrough Tennis Center on the campus of Auburn University.
The Hurricanes posted a 6-3 overall record on the first day of competition, including a 5-1 mark in singles play.
“We played some great indoor tennis today. [Ulyana] Shirokova took down a solid player and was as disciplined as I’ve seen her,” Miami head coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews said. “Daniella [Roldan] came through in some big moments and everyone else showed they were working on the things we’ve been discussing during the week.”
Miami started the day by taking one of its three doubles matches. The duo of senior Ana Madcur and freshman Lucia Marzal Marzal Martinez, seeded second in Flight No. 2, notched an 8-5 triumph over Oklahoma’s Kianah Motosono and Laura Rico-Garcia.
In Flight No. 1, Miami dropped a pair of 3-8 decisions. The No. 51-ranked duo of Roldan, a senior, and junior Estela Perez-Somarriba fell to Auburn’s Sophia Graver and Taylor Russo, while Shirokova, a sophomore, and junior Yuna Ito came up short against the No. 31-ranked and top-seeded team Alexa Bortles and Isolde de Jong of Ole Miss.
Third-ranked Perez-Somarriba, the top seed in Flight No. 1, opened Miami’s singles ledger with a dominant 6-2, 6-1 showing against Martina Capurro of Oklahoma.
The Hurricanes split their two singles matches in Flight No. 2, with each going to a 10-point tiebreaker. Roldan edged Arkansas’ Lauren Alter, 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (10-8), while top-seeded Marzal Martinez fell to Plobrung Plipuech of Kansas, 4-6, 6-3, 0-1 (7-10).
“Even though Lucia came up short in the third-set tiebreaker, she showed some signs of improvement,” Yaroshuk-Tews said.
Shirokova, Miami’s lone competitor in Flight No. 3, advanced to the semifinals with a stellar 6-1, 6-1 victory over Damira Muminovic of Georgia State.
Miami picked up two more wins in Flight No. 4, both in straight-set fashion, to conclude the day. Second-seeded Ito topped Arkansas’ Shwetha Prabakar, 6-2, 6-2, while Madcur rolled past Lara Vovk of Georgia State, 6-2, 6-0.
Saturday, in the Doubles No. 1 Flight consolation semifinals, Ito and Shirokova meet Arkansas’ Lauren Alter and Thea Rice, while Perez-Somarriba and Roldan face No. 49 Tea Jandric and Sabina Machalova of Ole Miss.
In the Doubles No. 2 Flight main draw semifinals, Madcur and Marzal Martinez will take on Georgia State’s Anastasia Grosheva and Lara Vovk.
Meanwhile, in singles, Perez-Somarriba’s No. 1 Flight semifinal contest is a top-100 matchup with No. 92 Jandric.
In the No. 2 Flight, Roldan faces Oklahoma’s Camila Moreno in the semifinals, while Marzal Martinez plays Eva Chivu of Georgia State in the consolation bracket.
Shirokova will square off with Caroline Turner of the tournament host, Auburn, in the No. 3 Flight semifinals.
In the No. 4 Flight, Ito is set to take on Auburn’s Lindsay Song, while Madcur will face top-seeded Laura Rico-Garcia.
Saturday’s doubles semifinals will take place at 10 a.m. ET, followed by bracket finales at 11 a.m. ET. All of Miami’ singles matches are scheduled for 1:30 p.m. ET.
For more information on the Marliss Gruver Fall Invitational, including all the full draws, visit the official website HERE.
To keep up with the University of Miami women’s tennis team on social media, follow @CanesWTennis on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
FRIDAY RESULTS
Doubles Flight No. 1 – Quarterfinals
Sophia Graver/Taylor Russo (AU) def. No. 51 Estela Perez-Somarriba/Daniella Roldan (UM), 8-3
No. 31 [1] Alexa Bortles/Isolde de Jong (OM) def. Yuna Ito/Ulyana Shirokova (UM), 8-3
Doubles Flight No. 2 – Quarterfinals
[2] Ana Madcur/Lucia Marzal Martinez (UM) def. Kianah Motosono/Laura Rico-Garcia (OU), 8-5
Singles Flight No. 1 – Quarterfinals
No. 3 [1] Estela Perez-Somarriba (UM) def. Martina Capurro (OU), 6-2, 6-1
Singles Flight No. 2 – Quarterfinals
Plobrung Plipuech (KU) def. [1] Lucia Marzal Martinez (UM), 6-4, 3-6, 1-0 (10-7)
Daniella Roldan (UM) def. Lauren Alter (AR), 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (10-8)
Singles Flight No. 3 – Quarterfinals
Ulyana Shirokova (UM) def. Damira Muminovic (GAST), 6-1, 6-1
Singles Flight No. 4 – Quarterfinals
[2] Yuna Ito (UM) def. Shwetha Prabakar (AR), 6-2, 6-2
Ana Madcur (UM) def. Lara Vovk (GAST), 6-2, 6-0
SATURDAY SCHEDULE
Doubles No. 1 Flight – Consolation Semifinals
10 a.m. ET: Yuna Ito/Ulyana Shirokova (UM) vs. Lauren Alter/Thea Rice (AR)
10 a.m. ET: No. 51 Estela Perez-Somarriba/Daniella Roldan (UM) vs. No. 49 Tea Jandric/Sabina Machalova (OM)
Doubles No. 2 Flight – Main Draw Semifinals
10 a.m. ET: [2] Ana Madcur/Lucia Marzal Martinez (UM) vs. Anastasia Grosheva/Lara Vovk (GAST)
Singles No. 1 Flight – Main Draw Semifinals
1:30 p.m. ET: No. 3 [1] Estela Perez-Somarriba (UM) vs. No. 92 Tea Jandric (OM)
Singles No. 2 Flight – Main Draw Semifinals
1:30 p.m. ET: Daniella Roldan (UM) vs. Camila Romero (OU)
Singles No. 2 Flight – Consolation Semifinals
1:30 p.m. ET: Lucia Marzal Martinez (UM) vs. Eva Chivu (GAST)
Singles No. 3 Flight – Main Draw Semifinals
1:30 p.m. ET: Ulyana Shirokova (UM) vs. Caroline Turner (AU)
Singles No. 4 Flight – Main Draw Semifinals
1:30 p.m. ET: [2] Yuna Ito (UM) vs. Lindsay Song (AU)
1:30 p.m. ET: Ana Madcur (UM) vs. [1] Laura Rico-Garcia (OU)
