CARY, N.C. – Duke women’s tennis freshman Irina Balus closed action Tuesday at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) All-American Championship, while five other Blue Devils are set for main draw action Wednesday at the Cary Tennis Park in Cary.
Balus, a native of Banská Bystrica, Slovakia, opened play in qualifying on Monday. She dropped a tight three-set match to Oklahoma State’s Gracie Epps. Balus came out and won the first set, 6-4, but dropped the second, 4-6. In the third set, Epps jumped out to a 4-1 advantage, but Balus came back to even the ledger, 4-4. After winning two straight points, Balus led 6-5, but lost the next game to send the contest to a tiebreaker. Epps went on to win, 7-3, to clinch the victory.
On Tuesday in the consolation round, Balus posted a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Kristyna Lavickova.
Five Blue Devils will kick off main draw play Wednesday with the full schedule below.
Duke features five ranked singles players – Shavit Kimchi (38), Emma Jackson (41), Katie Codd (49), Ellie Coleman (53) and Eleana Yu (73). The Blue Devils doubles teams of Jackson/Yu are No. 58 and Kimchi/Coleman are No. 61. Balus also earned a No. 10 ranking in the newcomer singles ledger.
Monday, Sept. 23
Qualifying
Singles
Gracie Epps (Oklahoma State) def. Irina Balus (Duke) 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3)
Tuesday, Sept. 24
Qualifying – Consolation
Singles
Irina Balus (Duke) def. Kristyna Lavickova (Florida State) 6-4, 6-1
Wednesday, Sept. 25
Main Draw
Singles
#41 Emma Jackson (Duke) vs. #34 Bridget Stammel (Vanderbilt) at 1 p.m.
#49 Katie Codd (Duke) vs. #118 Chloe Noel (Oklahoma) at 2 p.m.
#38 Shavit Kimchi (Duke) vs. Kate Fakih (UCLA) at 10 a.m.
#53 Ellie Coleman (Duke) vs. #20 Mia Kupres (Texas A&M) at 10 a.m.
#73 Eleana Yu (Duke) vs. Carmen Andreea Herea (Texas) at 10 a.m.
Doubles
#58 Eleana Yu/Emma Jackson (Duke) vs. #8 Aya El Sayed/Pia Rebec (Colorado) TBA
#61 Ellie Coleman/Shavit Kimchi (Duke) vs. #53 Maya Dutta/Zdena Safarova (Boise State) TBA
To stay up to date with Blue Devils women’s tennis, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching “https://goduke.com/news/2024/9/24/DukeWTEN”.
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