Season-Opening Success for Women's Tennis

Friday, January 29

Normal, Ill.

1:00 p.m. CT

DePaul University

Illinois State

1/29/2021 8:19:00 PM | WOMEN'S TENNIS

Clutch singles play keys 4-3 victory Friday at Illinois State

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Even though the 2020-21 DePaul women's tennis debut didn't get off to the fastest start, all that matters is how you finish.

Losing all three doubles matches for the doubles point along with the No. 1 and No. 6 singles matches in Friday's season opener at Illinois State, the Blue Demons came through with four clutch wins in a 4-3 victory at the Bloomington Tennis Center.

Alina Kuzmenkova at No. 2 singles prevailed over ISU's Tara Damnjanovic 6-4, 4-4 (ret) while Lenka Antonijevic duplicated that success at No. 3 singles with a 7-5, 6-1 decision over Natalia Bravo.

Coming off an outstanding freshman year, Yuliya Kizelbasheva picked up where she left off with a 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 win over Penelope Abreu.

Also stepping up in a three-set thriller, Marija Jovicic dropped the opener 6-7(5) before rallying 6-1, 6-2 over ISU's Laura Fitzgerald.

DePaul will bring its 1-0 record to Peoria on Sunday for a match against Bradley at 1 p.m.

DePaul 4, Illinois State 3
Jan. 29, 2021
Bloomington, Ill.
Singles
1. Tijana Zlatanovic, ISU def. Aspasia Avgeri, DPU 7-5, 6-4
2. Alina Kuzmenkova, DPU def. Tara Damnjanovic, ISU 6-4, 4-4 (ret)
3. Lenka Antonijevic, DPU def. Natalia Bravo, ISU 7-5, 6-1
4. Yuliya Kizelbasheva, DPU def. Penelope Abreu, ISU 6-2, 5-7, 6-4
5. Marija Jovicic, DPU def. Laura Fitzgerald, ISU 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-2
6. Laura Arciniego, ISU def. Maddie Yergler, DPU 6-4, 6-2

Doubles
1. Zlatanovic/ Arciniego, ISU def. Antonijevic/Kizelbasheva, DPU 6-3
2. Bravo/Fitzgerald, ISU def. Kuzmenkova/Jovicic, DPU 6-4
3. Vujicic/Zduniak, ISU def. Avgeri/Yergler, DPU 7-5