Sept. 19, 2010

• Complete Results   |  Final Stats

MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin women’s tennis team opened its 2010 fall season this weekend at the Duke Invitational in Cary, N.C. Sophomore Hannah Berner finished in sixth place of her section, and two other Badgers placed in the top 15 of their section. The doubles team of Berner and junior Alaina Trgovich also finished in third place in their section.

Berner met Princeton’s Taylor Marable in the first round. Marable won the first set (6-0), but Berner came back to win the following to sets (6-2, 6-2). Berner endured her first loss of the tournament in the second round to Caroline Larsson of Texas in two-straight sets, (6-1, 7-6). She then defeated North Carolina’s Gina Suarez-Malaguti (6-2, 6-3) and lost to North Carolina’s Shinann Featherston (6-2, 3-6, 7-6) to earn sixth place in section B.

“I thought Hannah Berner shined the most out of all our four players,” said women’s tennis head coach Brain Fleishman. “I thought she did an extremely good job in singles and doubles. She’s come a long way, and I think all the hard work she put in this summer has really paid off.”

Trgovich dropped her first two matches of the Duke Invitational, but won her final two matches to take 13th place in section A. On Friday, Trgovich dropped her first match to No. 24-ranked Nadine Fahoum of Duke, (6-2, 6-0). She then faced Purdue’s Anna Dushkina, losing (6-4, 6-7, 6-3). The loss put Trgovich in the 13th place bracket where she defeated Northwestern’s Nida Hamilton (6-3, 6-1) and Princeton’s Rachel Saiontz (6-1, 3-6, 6-4).

Junior Aleksandra Markovic also competed for UW, going 0-3 at the tournament. Markovic lost her first round match (6-1, 6-2) to Illinois’ Chelcie Abajian, dropped her second match to Princeton’s Hilary Bartlett (7-5, 6-3), and ended the tournament with a (6-4, 6-3) loss to North Carolina’s Haley Hemm. Aleksandra played an additional match that did not count towards the tournament, where she lost to Duke's Rachel Kahan (6-1,6-1).

True freshman Jenny Hois played in three matches this weekend, winning one of seven sets. Hois lost her first match (6-3, 7-5) to Duke’s Rachel Kahan and second match (7-5, 6-2) to Bhavani Tirumurti of Purdue. She was then defeated by Alabama’s Merrit Emery (6-1, 3-6, 6-1) to compete for 15th place, but the match was not played. Hois also competed in an extra match against Purdue's Mara Schmidt, losing (6-7, 6-1, 7-5).

In doubles play, Trgovich and Berner earned third place in their section, going 2-1 at the tournament. The team of Markovic and Hois also put together one victory and two losses in doubles matches.

“I thought the tournament was a success from the stand point that we got great quality matches,” Fleishman said. “We now know what we need to work on in this part of the season. I think we are going to have a good solid team this year.”

The Badgers will now spend three weeks away from competition in preparation for the Wildcat Invitational in Evanston, Ill. on October 8-10.

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
Hannah Berner, 6th place in Section B
1st round: Berner def. Taylor Marable (Princeton), 0-6, 6-2, 6-2
2nd round: Caroline Larsson (Texas) def. Berner, 6-1, 7-6 (4)
3rd round: Berner def. Gina Suarez-Malaguti (North Carolina) 6-2, 6-3
4th round: Shinann Featherston (North Carolina) def. Berner, 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (4)

Alaina Trgovich, 13th place in Section A
1st round: Nadine Fahoum (Duke) def. Trgovich, 6-2, 6-0
2nd round: Anna Dushkina (Purdue) def. Trgovich, 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-3
3rd round: Trgovich def. Nida Hamilton (Northwestern), 6-3, 6-1
4th round: Trgovich def. Rachel Saiontz (Princeton), 6-1, 3-6, 6-4

Aleksandra Markovic
1st round: Chelcie Abajian (Illinois) def. Markovic, 6-1, 6-2
2nd round: Hilary Bartlett (Princeton) def. Markovic, 7-5, 6-3
3rd round: Haley Hemm (North Carolina) def. Markovic, 6-4, 6-3
Extra match: Rachel Kahan (Duke) def. Markovic, 6-1, 6-1

Jenny Hois
1st round: Rachel Kahan (Duke) def. Hois, 6-3, 7-5
2nd round: Bhavani Tirumurti (Purdue) def. Hois, 7-5, 6-2
3rd round: Merrit Emery (Alabama) def. Hois, 6-1, 3-6, 6-1
Extra match: Mara Schmidt (Purdue) def. Hois, 6-7(4), 6-1, 7-5

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Justin Mozer
UW Athletic Communications