Syracuse upsets No. 23 Miami 5-2, improves to 9-0
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After a dominant first set, Ines Fonte found herself up 3-0 in a second set tiebreaker. A win in this set would secure the victory for Syracuse. Fonte had the serve, which put her in a great position for the rest of the point. Miami opponent Maya Tahan returned the serve, and Fonte responded with a deep forehand that forced Tahan to lob back the shot. Fonte put the weak ball away, securing the dagger into the match.
Fonte’s seventh singles win of the year completed the upset for the Orange over No. 23 Miami, and kept the win streak alive, pushing it to nine straight wins — and three straight in Atlantic Coast Conference play. Prior to this match, Syracuse was 1-13 all-time against Miami.
“This team just fights. They are all very close, and they play for each other,” head coach Younes Limam said. “They just have a mindset to refuse to lose.”
In first doubles, the pair of Shiori Ito and Zeynep Erman were not on page the entire set. Both could not dominate on their serves, and they were easily handled 2-6.
In the second doubles spot, Fonte and Viktoriya Kanapatskaya tried to keep the point alive for the Orange. Her opponent jumped out to a quick lead and did not look back. Down 2-5, SU won a game on its serve, but could not get the essential break. The Orange lost the set 3-6, giving the doubles point to the Hurricanes.
With the two other matches finished, the third match no longer mattered, getting cut early. Miyuka Kimoto and Polina Kozyreva had a 4-3 lead when the set ended, and the Orange needed to fight from behind in the singles matches.
First singles had put Erman in a tough position. Erman has played three matches in the No. 1 spot, and has yet to get her first win. Erman has been dealing with back pain for the past few matches, and was questionable to even play in the match.
Her opponent, the nationally-ranked No. 8 player Alexa Nole, has only lost one match the entire year. However, Erman was not phased and played some of the best tennis she has all year.
In the first set, no one could take the lead and hold it. Erman started off strong, breaking Nole on her first serve to go up 2-0. But Noel broke Erman right back and tied the match up.
This trend went on the entirety of the set. Down 4-3, Erman easily won her serve, then followed it up with a huge break to take the lead 5-4 going into her serve. The Turkish native fed off the momentum and won the last game, taking the first set with a huge 6-4 win.
From there, it was all Erman. She jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the second set, breaking Nole twice in the process. Erman took her foot off the gas pedal a little bit, with Noel winning three straight games. Erman had the chance to close it out on her serve. At deuce, Noel was given her second court violation of the day, getting disqualified from the match. In a huge upset, Erman got her first win against a ranked opponent in her career, tying the score up at 1-1 for the Orange.
“She is getting closer and closer to playing her best,” Limam said. “To step in against a top ten player and play the way she did was very impressive.”
At No. 2 singles for just the second time all season, Kanapatskaya had no trouble adjusting to her new position. The junior was flawless from start to finish, handling her opponent 6-3, 6-2. Kanapatskaya’s power was on full display today, as she picked up the second singles win for the Orange.
In No. 3 singles, Kimoto was trying to stop a two game singles losing streak. Kimoto started off slow, losing the first set 2-6. However, the freshman came right back, taking the second set 6-3. In the third set, Kimoto ran out of gas and could not even win a game.
Ito was protecting a six-match win streak in the No. 5 singles spot. In the same spot today, she kept that streak alive with a commanding straight sets win, 6-4, 6-3.
In the No. 6 singles spot, Fonte came out hot in the first set, taking it 6-1. In the second, Tahan put up more of a fight as the set was forced to a tiebreaker. Fonte was unbeatable in the deciding points, taking the tiebreaker 7-0. This win pushed the score to 4-2, locking in the upset win for the Orange.
Even though the match was finished, Kozyreva was looking to keep her perfect singles record intact. As the No. 4 singles player, Kozyreva has not lost a single set all season. Today, Kozyreva lost the first set 4-6 and had to come from behind. The senior remained calm and took the next set right back 6-4. As the team match was already decided, the two were going to play a tiebreaker to 10 to decide the outcome. But, it took 34 points to decide the winner. Kozyreva came out on top, winning 18-16 in an electrifying finisher.
“I think we showed a lot of heart and resilience,” Limam said. “We said to them after the doubles, ‘how are you going to respond?’ and I think the answer was pretty clear.”
