University of North Carolina Athletics
Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati
Graham Reaches Singles Semifinals At ITA All-Americans
October 11, 2019 | Women's Tennis
TULSA, Okla. - North Carolina senior Alexa Graham advanced to the main draw singles semifinals on Friday at the 2019 ITA Women's All-American Championships.
Graham, seeded No. 3, was the highest seeded player in the field to reach the quarterfinals after her 6-0, 6-2 triumph over 16th seed Meible Chi of Duke. Up next on Friday evening was No. 13 seed Christina Rosca of Vanderbilt.Â
In the second meeting between the two star players, Graham made it 2-0 all-time against Rosca in comeback fashion, 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-4.Â
No. 5 seed Sara Daavettila was pushed to three sets by No. 43 Lisa Marie Rioux of Oklahoma State, but ultimately prevailed 6-0, 4-6, 6-0 in the Round of 16. With the upset of top seed and defending NCAA Singles Champion Estela Perez-Somarriba (Miami), Daavettila was paired against No. 15 seed Anna Turati in the quarterfinals.Â
Daavettila won the opening set, but could not overcome Turati in a thrilling match that was decided in a third set tiebreaker 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (8).
Graham and Turati square off in the semifinals on Saturday at noon ET. The two met last year in qualifying in this same event that went in favor of Graham in three sets.
No. 10 seed Cameron Morra was narrowly defeated in three sets by #63 Iuliia Bryzgalova of Penn, 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (4) in the Round of 16.Â
UNC had two doubles team reach the quarterfinals, however, both tandems came up short in attempting to advance to the semis.Â
No. 2 seed of Jones and Morra lost 8-5 to unseeded and 24th ranked Tenika McGiffin and Kaitlin Staines from Tennessee.
In a similar fashion, unseeded and No. 29 Jessie Gong and Samantha Martinelli of Yale defeated No. 20 Graham and Daavettila, 8-5.
2019 ITA Women's All-American Championships
Main Draw Singles
Wednesday, Oct. 9 - First Round
[2] #3 Makenna Jones (UNC) def. #71 Chiara Tomasetti (No. Arizona) 7-6 (2), 7-6 (3)
[3] #4 Alexa Graham (UNC) def. #41 Emma Antonaki (Miss State) 3-6, 7-6, 6-3
[5] #7 Sara Daavettila (UNC) def. #38 Michaela Haet (Rice) 6-2, 6-3
[10] #12 Cameron Morra (UNC) def. #21 Oleksandra Korashvili (OU) 6-4, 6-0
Thursday, Oct. 10 - Second Round
[5] #7 Sara Daavettila (UNC) def. #84 Andrea Reami (NCST) 6-3, 6-1
[10] #12 Cameron Morra (UNC) def. #50 Angela Kulikov (USC) 6-2, 6-4
[3] #4 Alexa Graham (UNC) def. #26 Chiara Lommer (Michigan) 6-2, 6-3
#37 Vivian Wolff (Georgia) def. [2] #3 Makenna Jones (UNC) 6-0, 7-5
Friday, Oct. 11 - Round of 16
[5] #7 Sara Daavettila (UNC) def. #43 Lisa Marie Rioux (OKST) 6-0, 4-6, 6-0
[3] #4 Alexa Graham (UNC) def. [16] #18 Meible Chi (Duke) 6-0, 6-2
#63 Iuliia Bryzgalova (Penn) def. [10] #12 Cameron Morra (UNC) 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (4)
Friday, Oct. 11 - Quarterfinals
[3] #4 Alexa Graham (UNC) def. [13] #15 Christina Rosca (Vandy) 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-4
[15] #17 Anna Turati (Texas) def. [5] #7 Sara Daavettila (UNC) 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (8)
Saturday, Oct. 12 - Semifinals
[3] #4 Alexa Graham (UNC) vs. [15] #17 Anna Turati (Texas) noon ET
Main Draw Doubles
Thursday, Oct. 10 - First Round
[2] #3 Jones/Morra (UNC) def. #27 Holly Hutchinson/Brooke Pilkington (ODU) 8-1
#20 Graham/Daavettila (UNC) def. [3] #4 Elysia Bolton/Jada Hart (UCLA) 8-7 (4)
Thursday, Oct. 10 - Second Round
[2] #3 Jones/Morra (UNC) def. Lenka Antonijevic/Yuliya Kzelbasheva (DePaul) 8-2
#20 Graham/Daavettila (UNC) def. #19 Eleni Christofi/Vivian Wolff (Georgia) 8-3
Friday, Oct. 11 - Quarterfinals
#24 Tenika McGiffin/Kaitlin Staines (Tennessee) def. [2] #3 Jones/Morra (UNC) 8-5
#29 Jessie Gong/Samantha Martinelli (Yale) def. #20 Graham/Daavettila (UNC) 8-5
Graham, seeded No. 3, was the highest seeded player in the field to reach the quarterfinals after her 6-0, 6-2 triumph over 16th seed Meible Chi of Duke. Up next on Friday evening was No. 13 seed Christina Rosca of Vanderbilt.Â
In the second meeting between the two star players, Graham made it 2-0 all-time against Rosca in comeback fashion, 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-4.Â
No. 5 seed Sara Daavettila was pushed to three sets by No. 43 Lisa Marie Rioux of Oklahoma State, but ultimately prevailed 6-0, 4-6, 6-0 in the Round of 16. With the upset of top seed and defending NCAA Singles Champion Estela Perez-Somarriba (Miami), Daavettila was paired against No. 15 seed Anna Turati in the quarterfinals.Â
Daavettila won the opening set, but could not overcome Turati in a thrilling match that was decided in a third set tiebreaker 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (8).
Graham and Turati square off in the semifinals on Saturday at noon ET. The two met last year in qualifying in this same event that went in favor of Graham in three sets.
No. 10 seed Cameron Morra was narrowly defeated in three sets by #63 Iuliia Bryzgalova of Penn, 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (4) in the Round of 16.Â
UNC had two doubles team reach the quarterfinals, however, both tandems came up short in attempting to advance to the semis.Â
No. 2 seed of Jones and Morra lost 8-5 to unseeded and 24th ranked Tenika McGiffin and Kaitlin Staines from Tennessee.
In a similar fashion, unseeded and No. 29 Jessie Gong and Samantha Martinelli of Yale defeated No. 20 Graham and Daavettila, 8-5.
2019 ITA Women's All-American Championships
Main Draw Singles
Wednesday, Oct. 9 - First Round
[2] #3 Makenna Jones (UNC) def. #71 Chiara Tomasetti (No. Arizona) 7-6 (2), 7-6 (3)
[3] #4 Alexa Graham (UNC) def. #41 Emma Antonaki (Miss State) 3-6, 7-6, 6-3
[5] #7 Sara Daavettila (UNC) def. #38 Michaela Haet (Rice) 6-2, 6-3
[10] #12 Cameron Morra (UNC) def. #21 Oleksandra Korashvili (OU) 6-4, 6-0
Thursday, Oct. 10 - Second Round
[5] #7 Sara Daavettila (UNC) def. #84 Andrea Reami (NCST) 6-3, 6-1
[10] #12 Cameron Morra (UNC) def. #50 Angela Kulikov (USC) 6-2, 6-4
[3] #4 Alexa Graham (UNC) def. #26 Chiara Lommer (Michigan) 6-2, 6-3
#37 Vivian Wolff (Georgia) def. [2] #3 Makenna Jones (UNC) 6-0, 7-5
Friday, Oct. 11 - Round of 16
[5] #7 Sara Daavettila (UNC) def. #43 Lisa Marie Rioux (OKST) 6-0, 4-6, 6-0
[3] #4 Alexa Graham (UNC) def. [16] #18 Meible Chi (Duke) 6-0, 6-2
#63 Iuliia Bryzgalova (Penn) def. [10] #12 Cameron Morra (UNC) 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (4)
Friday, Oct. 11 - Quarterfinals
[3] #4 Alexa Graham (UNC) def. [13] #15 Christina Rosca (Vandy) 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-4
[15] #17 Anna Turati (Texas) def. [5] #7 Sara Daavettila (UNC) 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (8)
Saturday, Oct. 12 - Semifinals
[3] #4 Alexa Graham (UNC) vs. [15] #17 Anna Turati (Texas) noon ET
Main Draw Doubles
Thursday, Oct. 10 - First Round
[2] #3 Jones/Morra (UNC) def. #27 Holly Hutchinson/Brooke Pilkington (ODU) 8-1
#20 Graham/Daavettila (UNC) def. [3] #4 Elysia Bolton/Jada Hart (UCLA) 8-7 (4)
Thursday, Oct. 10 - Second Round
[2] #3 Jones/Morra (UNC) def. Lenka Antonijevic/Yuliya Kzelbasheva (DePaul) 8-2
#20 Graham/Daavettila (UNC) def. #19 Eleni Christofi/Vivian Wolff (Georgia) 8-3
Friday, Oct. 11 - Quarterfinals
#24 Tenika McGiffin/Kaitlin Staines (Tennessee) def. [2] #3 Jones/Morra (UNC) 8-5
#29 Jessie Gong/Samantha Martinelli (Yale) def. #20 Graham/Daavettila (UNC) 8-5
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
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