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Syracuse (3-0, 0-0 Atlantic Coast) continued its unbeaten start to the season against non-conference opponents on Friday, as the Orange took down in-state rival Cornell (0-3, 0-0 America East) at Drumlins Country Club, dropping only one match in a 6-1 victory.

In the opening doubles matches, Ines Fonte and Polina Kozyreva took care of business against Big Red’s Emma Baker and Lan Mi with strong net play to win 6-1. In a similarly dominant fashion, SU’s Shiori Ito and Viktoriya Kanapatskaya handled Tanya Fan and Sofia Iantosca to cruise to another 6-1.

The best of the three doubles matches was SU’s number one doubles pair Miyuka Kimoto and Zeynep Erman against Cornell’s Lauren Stein and Alexandra Savu. Kimoto set the pace early through her service, yet Cornell stayed competitive, as the teams split the first four games 2-2. After breaking Cornell’s serve, the Orange were able to set the pace with their long rallies and broke away to win the next four games, coming out victorious 6-2 and winning the doubles point.

“I couldn’t be prouder of this team. We set the tone in the doubles which was big for us,” said Syracuse head coach Younes Limam.

Many of the Orange’s singles matches proved to be no challenge, as Fonte, Kanapatskaya, and Ito led the whole way to each secure straight-set wins.

The matchup between Kimoto and Mi, each team’s No. 1 singles players, started with long and exciting rallies, with both players trading blows in a tight first set. Mi was able to keep a steady pace but Kimoto got tired early as each return sent her chasing towards a different end of the baseline. Mi secured the first set 6-4 after she was able to break Kimoto’s serve and keep her running.

The second set continued with the same levels of high energy as the first did, with Kimoto forcing Mi to scramble after every return. After Kimoto led 1-0, her luck took a turn for the worst as she suffered an elbow injury that forced her to forfeit, giving Cornell its one win of the day.

“I didn’t get to speak to the trainer fully, but we chose to play on the safe side. We have another [match] on Sunday and we’re just trying to save her body,” Limam said. “That’s all we know and hopefully it’s nothing serious.”

The No. 2 singles match started more one-sided, with Erman dominating early against Stein, winning the set 6-3. However, during the second set, Stein set the tone early and as Erman committed unforced errors, it seemed to be anybody’s match. The entire set went back and forth as tensions rose with Stein leading 6-5. Erman recovered to force a tiebreaker. Following more unforced errors by Erman, Stein went up 6-3, and was one point away from winning the set, but Erman roared back to clinch the second set tiebreaker 8-6.

The longest match of the day came between Kanapatskaya and Baker. The first set was truly a 50/50 contest as neither player led by more than one game. Down 5-4, Kanapatskaya won the next two games with a combination of lobs, slices, and dynamic aces that gave her a 7-5 first-set victory.

The second set proved to be just as tight. After a 4-4 stalemate, Kanapatskaya was able to capitalize on her serve and break Baker to win 6-4 and end the match.

“It was a very tough match. Down most of the first set and coming from behind gave her a lot of confidence in the second set,” Limam said. “I think she’s on track to finding her best tennis. She got two good wins last week and adding today’s match, that can only help.”

Even though it wasn’t always pretty, the Orange did enough to extend their win stretch ahead of Sunday’s matchup against Delaware.

“The biggest thing right now is recovery and being ready for Sunday. We expect a tough match against Delaware. They’re a very well-coached team and we expect another battle,” Limam said.

Published on January 28, 2023 at 11:13 am

Contact Brooks: baherb@syr.edu