WOMEN'S DRAW
WACO, Texas – Texas A&M - Corpus Christi women's tennis sophomore Judit Vives highlighted the opening day of the USTA/ITA Texas Regional Championships at Baylor University. The Barcelona, Spain native has advanced to the round of 32 of singles play after clinching both of her singles matches today.
Along with Vives, junior Celia Rodriguez and freshman Jelena Dzinic secured their opening round matches in straight sets to advance to the round of 64 in singles play.
"I was very pleased with the way all three girls competed today," Director of Tennis Steve Moore said. "They fought very hard and showed a lot of heart. They all played very focused first round matches."
Vives started things off with a 6-0, 6-3 win over Rice's Stephanie Nguyen in the opening round. In the second round, Vives topped Katia Stavroulaki of Texas-Pan American, 6-3, 7-6 (5). She will take on No. 4 seed Rachel Pierson of Texas A&M tomorrow at 10:15 a.m.
"Judit has improved a lot and has added some key facets to her game," Moore said. "She is playing at a high level and we are excited for her match tomorrow."
Rodriguez also advanced to the second round after notching a 6-2, 6-3 win over Katy Collins of Texas State. In the second round, the junior fell to the No. 3 seed Stefanie Tan of TCU, 6-2, 6-3.
"Celia played a tough match against the No. 3 seed," Moore said. "She has also improved a lot and is working very hard."
Freshman Jelena Dzinic cruised to a 6-0, 6-2 victory in her opening round of play against Sam Houston State's Caitlyn Mitchell. The native of Subotica, Serbia dropped a tough three-setter to Lisa Bulgakova of SMU in the second round. In the first set Dzinic fell 6-1, but bounced back to squeeze out a 7-6 (3) tiebreaker to force a third set. In the third, Dzinic jumped out to an early lead before falling, 6-4.
"Jelena played a tough match against SMU's top girl and lost 6-4 in the third in a great battle," Moore said. "The future is very bright for her and she has a great game and a great attitude."
On Friday, Rodriguez and Vives will team up in doubles play at 9 a.m. in the round of 32. The duo received a first-round bye and will face Elizabeth Thoms and Angeles de los Rios of UT Arlington.
"These three girls are getting better every week and it showed today," Moore added.
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