Perez-Somarriba Reaches Third Round of ITA Fall Nationals
By Alex Schwartz
HurricaneSports.com
Thursday Result | Wednesday Recap
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. – For the third year in a row, Estela Perez-Somarriba of the University of Miami women’s tennis team is headed to the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships Round of 16.
The senior, ranked second nationally, has advanced to the third round in all three years of the event, this time doing so with a straight-set win over No. 50 Angela Kulikov of USC at the Newport Beach Tennis Club.
“[Estela played a] very talented player from USC today,” Miami head coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews said. “Estela had to compete out of her comfort zone and she did an excellent job. Happy to see her calmness and ability to figure things out [on display] once again.”
Kulikov, who defeated Miami sophomore Daevenia Achong in the Milwaukee Tennis Classic championship in September to earn her spot in this event, evened the first set at 5-all. Fifth-seeded Perez-Somarriba then took the next two games to win the opener.
After Perez-Somarriba won the first two games of the second set, Kulikov recorded victories in each of the next three to pull ahead. Perez-Somarriba, however, took the last four games to seal a 7-5, 6-3 decision.
Of the 16 seeded players, 13 of them are in the Round of 16, including 11 of the top 12 and each of the top eight.
Friday, at a to-be-determined time, Perez-Somarriba will meet No. 67 Bunyawi Thamchaiwat, seeded No. 16, with a quarterfinal berth on the line. The two squared off earlier this fall, with Perez-Somarriba notching a 6-2, 6-4 victory Sept. 28 at the USTA Fall Ranked Spotlight in Orlando, Fla.
Perez-Somarriba is the only player to reach the third round in all three editions of the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships. Just six other players—two of whom, UCLA’s Elysia Bolton and North Carolina’s Alexa Graham, are also in this year’s Round of 16—have done so even twice.
For more information on the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships, including the tournament draws and live scoring links, click HERE.
To keep up with the University of Miami women’s tennis team on social media, follow @CanesWTennis on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
THURSDAY RESULT
Singles Main Draw – Round of 32
No. 2 [5] Estela Perez-Somarriba (UM) def. No. 50 Angela Kulikov (USC), 7-5, 6-3
FRIDAY SCHEDULE
Singles Main Draw – Round of 16
Time TBD: No. 2 [5] Estela Perez-Somarriba (UM) vs. No. 67 [16] Bunyawi Thamchaiwat (OKST)
