DURHAM, N.C. – The Duke women’s tennis program is set for the 2024 NCAA Singles & Doubles Championship, which will be contested Nov. 19-24 at the Hurd Tennis Center in Waco, Texas. The Blue Devils feature four singles players – Irina Balus, Shavit Kimchi, Emma Jackson and Eleana Yu – along with one doubles team with Balus and Ellie Coleman.
The four singles selections mark the most of any program with multiple teams featuring three players. Balus is also one of only seven freshmen in the singles field – Ariana Anazagasty-Pursoo (Texas), Olivia Benton (Boston College), Ashton Bowers (Texas), Kate Fakih (UCLA), Valerie Glozman (Stanford) and Merna Refaat (Auburn). Balis is one of only three freshmen to compete in both singles and doubles – Glozman and Fakih.
Both Kimchi and Jackson will be making their second appearance in the NCAA Singles Championship, while Balus and Yu will make their debut. Coleman and Balus will also play in their first NCAA Doubles Championship.
Jackson, a senior from La Grange Park, Ill., has totaled a 12-4 ledger on the season. She owns 18 career wins against ranked opponents, including four versus top 10 foes. Jackson has collected a 74-44 all-time singles record with the Blue Devils. She last competed in the 2023 NCAA Singles Championship and dropped her first-round match.
A product of Sdey Hemed, Israel, Kimchi has won five out of her last seven singles matches heading to Waco and a total of six victories on the year. She competed in the 2024 NCAA Singles Championship and dropped her first-round match. Over her first two seasons so far, Kimchi owns 23 singles victories.
Yu, a product of Mason, Ohio, is riding a five-match winning streak and has totaled a 7-2 record as a Blue Devil in singles action. She has notched two wins against ranked opponents and four three-set victories.
Balus continues to be impressive so far in her first year with the Blue Devils with a 7-1 singles and 7-1 doubles ledger. A native of Banská Bystrica, Slovakia, Balus has collected a pair of ranked victories, including the 10th-ranked player nationally.
In doubles play, Balus and Coleman have tallied a 7-1 record with the lone loss coming in the ITA Regionals title match.
In the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) rankings,…
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