Kentucky Women’s Tennis Claims Three Spots in ITA Regional Semifinals

Kentucky women’s tennis advanced three singles competitors into the ITA Regional Semifinals at the Linder Family Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio, positioning the program to secure automatic bids to the national championship, UK Athletics reported.

Wildcats Advance Three Players to Semifinals in Mason

Kentucky placed Asuncion Jadue, Donna Le Roux, and Julia Zhu into the final four singles spots of the ITA Regional tournament. To qualify directly for the NCAA Women’s Singles and Doubles Championship, student-athletes must reach the regional singles final or capture the regional doubles title.

Jadue worked her way through the pre-qualifying draw before entering the main bracket. She opened her tournament run by defeating Jordan Fenton of UT-Chattanooga 6-3, 6-1, then outlasted Middle Tennessee State player Zhanel Rustemova 6-7(3), 7-5, 6-1.

Singles Contenders Battle Through Early Rounds

Once in the main draw, Jadue defeated Tennessee competitor Saray Yli-Piipari 6-4, 6-2. She followed with a 6-4, 6-4 victory against Indiana’s fourth-seeded Hiilani Williams and a 6-1, 7-5 win over Louisville’s Lika Persypkina.

Le Roux advanced past Cincinnati’s Elizabeth Fauchet 7-5, 6-2 and earned a 6-0, 6-2 win against Louisville player Samaya Smith. In the round prior to the semifinals, Le Roux secured a hard-fought three-set victory against Tennessee’s second-seeded Rinon Okuwaki 3-6, 6-4, 7-5.

Zhu posted straight-set wins over Audelie Lesauvage and Indiana’s Elisabeth Dunac 6-0, 6-4. She then dropped her opening set to Vanderbilt’s ninth-seeded Erin Pearce before rallying 3-6, 6-0, 6-1. Additional early singles action saw sophomore Elena Molla defeat Louisville’s ninth-seeded Berta Miret 6-3, 6-3, before later falling to top-seeded Valeria Ray of Vanderbilt 6-3, 6-3. Georgia Kulevich secured a three-set victory over Rufaro Magarira from UT-Chattanooga 5-7, 6-2, 6-3, before dropping a match to Lisa Kamigata of Tennessee 6-3, 6-1.

Doubles Competition Across Opening Rounds

In doubles action, Kulevich and Le Roux teamed up but dropped an 8-6 match to a pair from ETSU. Jadue and Bak-Szabo defeated a Murray State pair 8-2, dominated an Austin Peay duo 8-1, and won again against a Purdue pair 8-2 to advance to the quarterfinals.

Semifinal Pairings Set for October 13

On Monday, all three Kentucky competitors won their quarterfinal matches. Zhu defeated Deborah Dominguez Collado of Lipscomb 6-3, 6-1, Jadue overcame Tennessee player Lisa Kamigata 6-1, 2-6, 6-3, and Le Roux defeated fifth-seeded Sophia Webster of Vanderbilt 7-6(2), 7-5.

October 13 brings the decisive semifinal round at 10 a.m. Zhu faces Mariia Dolzhenko of Lipscomb, while teammates Jadue and Le Roux square off against one another.