Late Heroics Lead Purdue to Win in Big Ten Tournament Opener

IOWA CITY, IOWA – Late singles heroics and a third-set tiebreaker sent the Purdue women’s tennis team into the second round of the Big Ten Tournament at the University of Iowa, as the Boilermakers outlasted Rutgers 4-3 in the opening match on Wednesday.

Seira Shimizu and Juana Larranaga both clinched late singles points to help the Boilermakers rally from a late deficit.

Doubles was an incredibly tight affair. After Rutgers took the match at No. 1, 6-2, both remaining contests went to tiebreaks. Shimizu and Carmen Gallardo Guevara rallied to a 7-6 (8) win over Kristiana Zahare and Jackeline Lopez at No. 2 to even the match. Tara Katarina Milic and Larranaga nearly came back from 6-3 down in the breaker but fell 7-6(5) to Minchae Kim and Sydney Kaplan at No. 3.

Rut Galindo and Milic made quick work of their singles matches to thrust Purdue into the lead. Milic downed Lopez 6-2, 6-0 at No. 2, while Galindo dominated her contest against Kaplan 6-1, 6-0 at No. 3.

Rutgers responded with a straight sets win at No. 6 to make it 2-2. The Boilermakers had to battle from behind after dropping the opening set in the three remaining matches.

Up against it, Gallardo Guevara could not rally back against Tess Fisher at No. 1, falling 7-6(4), 6-3 to put the Boilermakers down 3-2 for the match.

Down to Larranaga and Shimizu, the duo fended off multiple match points to keep the season alive and take both their bouts into decisive third sets.

Larranaga rallied after a defeat in the first set to overcome Kim at No. 4, winning 1-6, 7-6(4), 6-1.

Shimizu saw her third set against Daira Cardenas go all the way to a tiebreaker to decide the match. Cardenas scored the first two points of the breaker, before Shimizu took control with five straight points, leading to a 5-7, 7-6(6), 7-6(3) win.

The Boilermakers will have a short rest period before squaring off with the No. 6 seed Nebraska on Thursday at 1 p.m. (ET). The match will be streamed on B1G+.

PURDUE (12-12) – 4, RUTGERS (5-18) – 3

Singles

1. Tess Fisher (RUT) def. Carmen Gallardo Guevara (PUR) – 7-6(4), 6-3

2. Tara Milic (PUR) def. Jackeline Lopez (RUT) – 6-2, 6-0

3. Rut Galindo (PUR) def. Sydney Kaplan (RUT) – 6-1, 6-0

4. Juana Larranaga (PUR) def. Minchae Kim (RUT) – 1-6, 7-6(4), 6-1

5. Seira Shimizu (PUR) def. Daira Cardenas (RUT) – 7-5, 7-6(6),…