ANN ARBOR, MI. — Four singles wins and two doubles victories highlight the Georgia women’s tennis team’s strong first day at the Michigan Invitational on Friday.
Starting with seven singles matches in the morning, the Bulldogs took four wins with one coming against a ranked opponent.
No. 30 Dasha Vidmanova picked up the first victory of the day against No. 85 Luciana Perry (Ohio State). The Prague, Czech Republic-native opened the first set strong and established a multi-game lead before earning the one set advantage. Carrying over all momentum into the second set, Vidmanova made quick work on her way to closing out a 6-2, 6-1 straight-set victory over Perry.
Guillermina Grant followed up with a win over Maddie Atway (Ohio State). A dominant string of games gave Grant the early lead before she strong serves helped secure the one set lead. Despite a much tighter second set, Grant capitalized late and pulled through for the 6-1, 6-4 victory.
The third singles victory of the day came from No. 116 Mell Reasco over Sydni Ratliff (Ohio State). Reasco struggled to find rhythm early in the first set, pushing to close to deficit before the set leaned opposite for Ratliff. The second set proved to be more competitive early with several lead changes before Reasco took the last three games to level the match as one set each. In the third set, Reasco’s effort and hustle led the way as she completed a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 comeback victory over Ratliff.
With each team having three singles wins through six matches, Aysegul Mert picked up the fourth singles victory for the Bulldogs over Alessia Cau (Ohio State). A grueling first set saw Mert battle back from two games down to force a tiebreaker and win the set. The second set paralleled the first with both players engaging in a back-and-forth battle. In the late stages of the second, Mert sparked momentum and closed out the set to earn a 7-6 (6), 7-5 victory.
In doubles play, Georgia picked up two out of three matches with both ranked duos securing wins on the day.
No. 58 Mert and Vidmanova picked up the first doubles win against Carol Lee and Kate Sharabura (Georgia Tech). Early dominance set the tone for the Bulldogs as a streak of powerful finishes helped elevate Mert and Vidmanova to a quick 6-1 victory.
The No. 15 tandem of Grant and Mai Nirundorn closed out the first day of competition with a win against Kylie Bilchev and Alejandra Cruz (Georgia Tech). Despite the opposition leading after three sets, the Bulldog duo pushed to close the gap before leveling the match at 3-3. Both tandems battled to a 5-5 score before Grant and Nirundorn closed out the match at 7-5.
The Bulldogs will resume competition on Saturday, Jan. 13 with doubles action against Ohio State at 10 a.m. before moving on to singles matches against Michigan in the afternoon. All competition be individual and no team scoring will be kept.
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