This weekend’s three-day Fab Four Invitational at Cary Tennis Park had three Blue Devils in their singles finals—one of which came away with a title—and one doubles pair in the running for its bracket’s crown.
Senior Reka Zsilinszka left the tournament with a 6-2, 6-4 victory Sunday against No. 15 Aeriel Ellis of Texas to win the Section B title. Zsilinszka, the No. 2 seed in the invitational, dropped only one set all weekend and lost just 13 games in the final three matches.
Other Blue Devil players who reached the finals were sophomore Mary Clayton, who fell to North Carolina’s Zoe De Bruycker 6-2, 6-2 in the Section A bracket, and senior Ellah Nze, who lost 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 to top-seeded Mississippi’s Kristi Box in Section C.
In doubles play, junior Monica Gorny and freshman Hanna Mar defeated Princeton’s Hilary Bartlett and Taylor Marable 8-1 to reach the doubles finals in the A bracket. However, the duo failed to leave the tournament with a title, falling to No. 44-ranked Tar Heel pair Shinann Featherston and Lauren McHale.
Though the Blue Devils did not have any other doubles showings in the finals, two teams played semifinal consolation matches Friday. Seniors Elizabeth Plotkin and Nadine Fahoum—a transfer from Old Dominion—fell 8-6 to a Texas pair in the B bracket, while Clayton and Nze were defeated 8-6 by a Northwestern team in the C section.
The team has ample time to recover from this weekend’s three-day play, as it prepares for its next tournament—the ITA/Riviera Women’s All-American Championships at Riviera Tennis Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif. Oct. 2-10.
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