Hamilton Wins First Match of Yale Career at Duke Invitational
CARY, N.C. – Friday, the Yale women's tennis team kicked off the Duke Fab-Four Invitational with a 2-2 record in singles highlighted by the first victory of freshman Madeleine Hamilton's career and a 2-2 showing in doubles.
Senior Elizabeth Epstein, ranked No. 85 in the nation, fell 6-0, 6-3 to No. 55 Caroline Rohde-Moe, an Ole Miss student-athlete. This was Yale's lone match in the blue bracket, which is made up of the tournament's best players.
In the black bracket, freshman Ree Ree Li went down 6-4, 6-1 against UNC's Gina Suarez-Malaguti in her first match as a Bulldog
In the third and final white bracket, junior Blair Seideman went up against Juliana Gajic of Texas, pulling out a 6-1, 6-3 victory to advance to the second round.
Also playing in the white bracket was freshman Madeleine Hamilton, making her first appearance for Yale tennis. She was matched up against Texas A&M's Stefania Hristov, and emerged victorious 6-2, 6-2.
In doubles, Yale's strength as a team last year, the Bulldogs went 2-2 against tough competition from southern powerhouses Texas A&M, which finished last season ranked No. 17, and UNC, last year's No. 8 team.
Playing in the A bracket, Epstein and Seideman took on Hristov and Texas A&M teammate Wen Sun, falling 8-6. In the first consolation round, though, the Bulldog duo pulled out an 8-5 win over Miami's Kelsey Laurente and Texas' Annat Rabinovich to improve their career record as a pair to 4-7.
Hamilton and Li, playing in the B bracket in their first doubles match together, dropped their first match 8-5 against UNC's Lauren McHale and Caroline Price. Like Epstein and Seideman, though, they won 9-7 in their consolation match against Hope Johnson and Anik Cepeda of William & Mary
Play will continue tomorrow, starting at 10 a.m.
Report by Calvin Bohn '14, Yale Sports Publicity