CARY, N.C. – Mississippi State picked up a doubles win during the first round of qualifying at the ITA All-American Championships Monday afternoon.
Emmanouela Antonaki and Gia Cohen took down Portland’s tandem of Iva Zelic and Sally Pethybridge 8-6. This is the first time Antonaki and Cohen have been paired together. For Antonaki, this win marks her 70th career doubles win, while Cohen earned her first doubles win as a Bulldog.
“Emmanouela [Antonaki] and Gia [Cohen] had a great start today,” associate head coach Sachin Kirtane said. “They beat a good team to start out, and it was a great match.”
Antonaki and Cohen moved onto the next round where they took on the duo of Julia Adams and Annabelle Xu of Virginia, but ending up falling to the duo 8-2.
“In the second match against Virginia, I feel like they competed and played really well,” Kirtane said. “They lost some really close deuce points, which are huge. I feel like if they had just won a couple of those, the result of the match would’ve been different. It’s actually kind of exciting to see, because they have never played together before. They have come over here and definitely showed that they can compete with anybody at this level. I think the sky is the limit for the two of them together as a doubles team.”
For singles, No. 52 Antonaki will play in the main draw of the ITA All-American Championships which starts on Wednesday. Antonaki received a bye during the pre-qualifying rounds.
“We are now just really looking forward to Emmanouela starting singles play on Wednesday,” said Kirtane.
The ITA All-American Championships is the second tournament State has participated in this fall. For Cohen and Antonaki, this is the first tournament of the fall they have competed in.
For more information on the Bulldog women’s tennis program, visit HailState.com or search for “HailStateWT” on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
ITA All-American Championships
Cary Tennis Park | Cary, N.C.
Oct. 3, 2022
Doubles Qualifying First Round
Emmanouela Antonaki/Gia Cohen (MSU) def. Iva Zelic/Sally Pethybridge (Portland) 8-6
Doubles Qualifying Second Round
Julia Adams/Annabelle Xu (Virginia) def. Emmanouela Antonaki/Gia Cohen (MSU) 8-2
Singles Pre-qualifying First Round | Oct. 1
No. 98 Kimmi Hance (UCLA) def. Gia Cohen…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Mississippi State…