WACO, Texas – In her second appearance in the NCAA Singles Championship, Duke women’s tennis senior Emma Jackson made the most of her opportunity on Tuesday as she claimed a 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) victory over Oklahoma’s Alina Shcherbinina in the round of 64 at the Hurd Tennis Center in Waco.
A product of La Grange Park, Ill., Jackson opened the match Tuesday evening by winning her first three service games, before breaking Shcherbinina to take a 4-2 advantage. She ended up holding serve, breaking and holding serve to clinch the first set, 6-3.
In the second set, Jackson dropped the first game, before holding serve to get on the board. She then broke Shcherbinina and won the next game to take a 3-1 lead. Shcherbinina came back to even the score, 3-3, but Jackson responded by winning two games to take a 5-3 lead. Once again, Shcherbinina made a run of her own by winning three games to take her first lead of the match, 6-5. Jackson held serve to even the set, 6-6.
Shcherbinina had a strong start to the tiebreaker by winning the first two points, but then Jackson turned in an impressive run by winning six straight points to go ahead, 6-2. Jackson then clinched her first NCAA singles win with a 7-3 tiebreaking victory. The win for Jackson was the 75th of her collegiate career.
Next up for Jackson in the round of 32 will be 12th-ranked Julia Fliegner of Michigan on Wednesday.
Duke sophomore Eleana Yu opened the day for the Blue Devils against 10th-ranked Sarah Hamner of South Carolina. Yu, who hails from Mason, Ohio, held a 4-2 advantage early and dropped a key deuce point, before falling, 7-6 (8-6), in the first set. In the second set, Yu fell, 6-4, to conclude her fall season with an impressive 7-3 ledger.
One of only three freshmen to compete in both NCAA singles and doubles, Irina Balus dropped her match, 6-2, 7-5, to Oklahoma’s 16th-ranked Julia Garcia Ruiz.
Duke sophomore Shavit Kimchi started the evening session off for the Blue Devils against ninth-ranked Nicole Khirin of Texas A&M. Khirin opened with a 2-0 advantage, but Kimchi came back to win seven straight games to take the first set, 6-3. With a 6-1 ledger, Khirin won the second set to send the match to a third set. Kimchi, who hails from Sdey Hemed, Israel, fell behind 4-1 early, but stormed back to…
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