Michigan
Oracle ITA Masters
Fahey's Run at Oracle ITA Masters Ends in Semifinals
9/22/2018 7:18:00 PM | Women's Tennis
Site: Malibu, Calif. (Malibu Racquet Club/Pepperdine University)
Event: Oracle ITA Masters
Result: No Team Scoring
Next U-M Event: Tue-Sun., Oct. 2-7 -- at ITA All-American (Pacific Palisades, Calif.)
MALIBU, Calif. -- Senior Kate Fahey of the University of Michigan women's tennis team made a run to the semifinals of the singles main draw at the prestigious Oracle ITA Masters, held at Malibu Racquet Club and Pepperdine University.
Fahey's run came to an end in the semifinals, as she dropped a 6-2, 1-6, 6-2 decision to Pepperdine's No. 41-ranked Evgeniya Levashova, who claimed the first set, with Fahey coming through with the equalizer in the second set. In the third and deciding set, Fahey held three break points in the first game, but Levashova fended off all three to take the first game. Fahey was broken in the next game as Levashova raced out to a 5-1 lead. Fahey got a break back as Levashova went to serve out the match, winning the deuce point to make the score 5-2. Fahey held off two match points on her serve in the ensuing game, but Levashova made good on the third to wrap up the three-set win.
In the quarterfinal round, Fahey fought off a match point en route to a win in the third-set tiebreaker. After she and USC's Salma Ewing split the first two sets, neither managed to hold serve much in the third set as there were four breaks of serve. Ewing held at 5-5, sending Fahey back to the service line to send the match to a tiebreaker. Fahey jumped out to a 40-15 lead before Ewing forced a deciding point after winning two straight. Fahey came though on the match point and eventually won the breaker, 7-3, to advance to the semifinals.
In the quarters of the mixed doubles main draw, Fahey and Minnesota's Stefan Milicevic made a run to the semifinals before falling in an 8-4 decision to Sven Lah of Baylor and Michaela Bayerlova of Washington State. Fahey and Milicevic won their previous three matches in the unique mixed doubles event.
Junior Giulia Pairone won her first match to advance to the second round before falling in an epic three-set match. Pairone fought off multiple match points against Winthrop's Lauren Proctor, rallying from a 6-2 deficit in the tiebreaker to close within a point at 6-5. Proctor came through on the ensuing point, taking a 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5) win over Pairone that took two hours, 52 minutes to complete.
Next up for the Maize and Blue is the ITA All-American, Oct. 2-7, in Pacific Palisades, California.
Singles Main Draw
No. 18 Kate Fahey
First Round (Sept. 20) -- d. Veronika Golanova (Illinois State), 6-2, 6-1
Second Round (Sept. 21) -- d. No. 20 Marianna Petrei (Idaho), 2-6, 6-2, 6-1
Quarterfinals (Sept. 21) -- d. Salma Ewing (Southern California), 6-7 (1), 6-2, 7-6 (3)
Semifinals (Sept. 22) -- l. No. 41Â Evgeniya Levashova (Pepperdine), 6-2, 1-6, 6-2
No. 33 Giulia Pairone
First Round (Sept. 20) -- d. Lidia Yanes Garcia (Austin Peay), 6-4, 6-1
Second Round (Sept. 21) -- l. No. 26 Lauren Proctor (Winthrop), 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5)
Mixed Doubles Main Draw
Giulia Pairone (U-M)/Aleks Kovacevic (Illinois)
First Round (Sept. 20) -- d. Lorenzo Fucile (Grand Canyon)/Dominique Vasile (Quinnipiac), 6-2
Second Round (Sept. 20) -- l. August Holmgren (San Diego)/Veronika Miroshnichenko (Loyola Marymount), 6-2
Kate Fahey (U-M)/Stefan Milicevic (Minnesota)
First Round (Sept. 20) -- d. Alvero Verdu (Marquette)/Jessica Livianu (St. John's), 6-2
Second Round (Sept. 20) -- d. Johannes Schretter (Baylor)/Makenna Jones (North Carolina), 6-4
Quarterfinals (Sept. 21) -- d. Adrian Oetzbach (Pepperdine)/Evgeniya Levashova (Pepperdine), 6-3
Semifinals (Sept. 21) -- l. Sven Lah (Baylor)/Michaela Bayerlova (Washington State), 8-4
Players Mentioned
