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Syracuse (3-0, 0-0 Atlantic Coast) continued their unbeaten start to the season against non-conference opponents on Friday as the Orange beat rival Cornell (0-3, 0-0 America East) at Drumlins Country Club, losing just one Play in a 6-1 win.
In the opening doubles, Ines Fonte and Polina Kozyreva took care of business against Big Red’s Emma Baker and Lan Mi with strong net play to win 6-1. In similarly dominant fashion, SU’s Shiori Ito and Viktoriya Kanapatskaya overcame Tanya Fan and Sofia Iantosca to progress to another 6-1 win.
Best of the three doubles was SU’s number ones in doubles, Miyuka Kimoto and Zeynep Erman, against Cornell’s Lauren Stein and Alexandra Savu. Kimoto set the pace early on with her service, but Cornell remained competitive as the teams tied the first four games 2-2. After breaking Cornell’s serve, the Oranges were able to set the pace with their long rallies and sprint away to win the next four games, going 6-2 and winning the double.
“I couldn’t be prouder of this team. We set the tone in doubles, which was big for us,” said Syracuse head coach Younes Limam.
Many of the Orange’s singles matches proved unchallenging as Fonte, Kanapatskaya and Ito led the entire way to secure straight set victories.
The matchup between Kimoto and Mi, both teams’ top individual players, began with long and exciting rallies, with both players trading shots in a tight first set. Mi was able to maintain a consistent pace, but Kimoto would tire early as she was chasing to a different end of the baseline with each return. Mi took the first set 6-4 after breaking Kimoto’s serve and keeping her going.
The second set continued with the same high energy as the first, with Kimoto forcing Mi to scramble after each return. After leading 1-0, Kimoto’s fortunes took a turn for the worse when she sustained an elbow injury that forced her to retire, giving Cornell the only win of the day.
“I wasn’t able to speak to the coach at length, but we decided to play it safe. We have another [match] on Sunday and we’re just trying to save her body,” Limam said. “That’s all we know and hopefully it’s nothing serious.”
The #2 singles match started more one-sided, with Erman dominating early on against Stein to win the set 6-3. Stein set the tone early in the second set, however, and with Erman making mistakes easily, it seemed possible for anyone. The entire set went back and forth as tensions mounted and Stein led 6-5. Erman recovered and forced a tiebreak. After more unforced errors from Erman, Stein took a 6-3 lead and was just a point away from winning the set, but Erman roared back to take the second set tiebreak 8-6.
The longest match of the day was between Kanapatskaya and Baker. The first set was truly a 50/50 contest as neither player led by more than one game. Kanapatskaya trailed 5-4 and won the next two games with a combination of lobs, slices and dynamic aces that gave her a 7-5 win in the first set.
The second set was just as tight. After a 4-4 draw, Kanapatskaya was able to use her serve and break Baker to win 6-4 and end the match.
“It was a very tough match. Being down and coming from behind for most of the first set gave her a lot of confidence in the second set,” Limam said. “I think she’s well on her way to finding her best tennis. She had two good wins last week and today’s match can only help.”
While it wasn’t always pretty, the Oranges did enough to extend their winning streak ahead of Sunday’s matchup against Delaware.
“The biggest thing at the moment is rest and being ready for Sunday. We expect a tough game against Delaware. They are a very well trained team and we expect another fight,” said Limam.
Published January 28, 2023 at 11:13 am
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