Freshman Ysabel Gonzalez-Rico advanced to the semifinals in the singles draw and later reached the semis in the doubles tournament with senior Bridget Harding as the first rounds of 2017 ITA Oracle Cup got underway Thursday afternoon at the Rome Tennis Center in Rome, GA.

Gonzalez-Rico, the No.-3 seed in the singles draw, earned a straight sets victory to begin the day, defeating Southwestern's Katie Daugherty 6-3, 6-0. Gonzalez-Rico will now face the No.-2 seed, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps' Catherine Allen, in the semifinals on Friday. Allen knocked off NYU's Anna Maria Buraya via retirement, 4-6, 6-2, 5-2.

In doubles action, Gonzalez-Rico and Harding, the No.-3 seed, bested Wisconsin-Whitewater's McGuire/Wallace pairing 6-3, 6-2 to move onto Friday's semifinals. Gonzalez-Rico and Harding will square off against either Pomona-Pitzer's Zhao/Chen, the No.-2 seed in the draw, or WashU's Deering/Persky.

For more information regarding the 2017 ITA Oracle Cup, please click here.