The Emory University men's and women's tennis teams got off to a hot start at the ITA Cup Thursday afternoon in Rome, GA.
On the women's side, freshman Eliza McPherron won her first two rounds; beating Carnegie Mellon's Crystal Zhou in straight sets 7-6 (6), 6-0 before pulling out a three-set comeback against Washington & Lee's Gabi Moss, winning 4-6, 6-1, 6-0. McPherron will face Pomona-Pitzer's Nina Ye in the semi-final match tomorrow morning at 9:00 am.
In doubles, the women saw one of their two doubles teams advance to the quarterfinals, as regional champions Alexa Goetz and Xuanjin Li bested UW-Eau Claire's Elaine Franta and Lindsey Henderson 6-1, 6-0. Goetz and Li will face off against Carnegie Mellon's Crystal Zhou and Ava Givone at 1:30pm tomorrow. The pairing of Emma Cartledge and Jessica Fatemi fell to Carnegie Mellon's Bin Zheng and Lindy Cornwall in a third set tiebreaker, 2-6, 6-3 (9-11). Cartledge/Fatemi will compete in the consolation draw tomorrow.
The men faced a similar fate, seeing one of their doubles teams advance to the quarterfinal match. Regional champions Andrew Esses and Sahil Raina bested Mary Washington's paring of Tecce and Leese in straight sets, 6-3 6-3. They will face Gustavus-Adolphus in the quarter finals tomorrow at 12:30pm. Their teammates, Samuel Dean and Santiago Suarez, lost a tight match to Washington University's Ramireddy and Li, 3-6 6-3 (3-10). They will compete in the consolation draw tomorrow.
Play continues at the Rome Tennis Center tomorrow, with singles kicking off at 9:00 am EST.