Syracuse Tennis falls 4-0 to #19 Duke
By Evan Zaretsky | @evan_zaretsky
DURHAM, N.C. – After falling to #3 UNC on Friday, things didn’t get much easier for Syracuse Tennis (4-4, 0-1 in Atlantic Coast Conference), who went up against #19 Duke on Sunday (7-2, 1-0 in Atlantic Coast Conference).
Syracuse was jumped from the start in doubles. SU’s #1 and ITA’s #20 Nelly Knezkova and Anastasia Sysoeva went down 3-1. Serafima Shastova and Monika Wojcik went down 5-0, won a game back, but ultimately lost the match. Leena Bennetto and Constance Levivier fell 6-2. Knezkova and Sysoeva crawled back to make it 3-3, but by the time that happened SU lost the other two doubles matches and it went unfinished.
The Orange took three opening games to kick off singles, and continued the momentum. Five of six matches were competitive halfway through the first set, separated by 2 games or less. In set one crunchtime though, Duke pulled away with the win in all six matches.
In the second set, all eyes were on Anastasia Sysoeva who took down Duke’s Liv Hovde 6-4 to push a third set. Before that finished though, SU’s Serafima Shastova fell 6-2, 6-3 to Irina Balus and Monika Wojcik lost 6-3, 6-2 to Aspen Schumun. Both of those players rank top 100 on ITA’s list.
That meant in the three remaining matches in set two, SU needed to push a third set in all of them. But, the Orange couldn’t come back. Syracuse’s Emma Scaldalai wrapped up first, losing 7-5, 6-2 to give Duke its last needed point for the win. The remaining three matches went unfinished.
Final in Durham: Duke 4 – 0 Syracuse. The Blue Devils’ continue their dominance against the Orange, improving to 16-0 all-time.
SU’s road trip continues against Boston College on Saturday, a team the Orange took down last year (5-2). Match time is set for 5 in Chestnut Hill. Make sure to follow @evan_zaretsky and @citrustvsports on X/Twitter for live in-game updates.
