Syracuse tennis struggles in 1st ACC match, swept by No. 3 North Carolina 4-0
Syracuse tennis struggled in its first Atlantic Coast Conference matchup of the season. The Orange were swept by No. 3 North Carolina 4-0. Peter Radosh | Asst. Copy Editor
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Syracuse tennis walked into Chapel Hill on Friday looking to accomplish something it had never had before — a win against North Carolina. The Orange still left Chapel Hill without it.
Syracuse (4-4, 0-1 Atlantic Coast) fell to the No. 3 Tar Heels (11-1, 1-0 ACC) 4-0 Friday evening. Entering the matchup, the Orange had never beaten North Carolina in their fifteen all-time meetings. Now, that losing streak extends to 16.
But it was always going to be an uphill battle for Syracuse. The Tar Heels have Reese Brantmeier, who’s been the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s top-ranked singles player all season. In the newest rankings from Thursday, North Carolina also had the sixth-ranked singles player in Ange Oby Kajuru and the 17th-ranked singles player in Tatum Evans.
Syracuse started out strong in the doubles matches. After the first two games, SU was tied 1-1 in each match.
However, North Carolina found its footing shortly after, going up 3-1 in every match. ITA’s 20th-ranked duo of Nelly Knezkova and Anastasia Sysoeva especially struggled, losing four games after winning the first. Second doubles also struggled, going down in the set 5-3 before losing 6-3, giving the advantage to the Tar Heels.
With its back against the wall, Syracuse’s No. 1 and No. 3 doubles won the next games to keep it alive. Unfortunately for the Orange, it didn’t take long for UNC to secure the doubles point, winning at No. 1 doubles 6-4, followed by a 6-4 win at No. 3 to sweep the point.
Syracuse once again got off to a solid start in singles. The Orange’s Leena Bennetto quickly stepped on the gas and took a 2-0 lead in the first set, with Sysoeva doing the same. SU led in four of the six matches, with only Serafima Shastova and Constance Levivier trailing.
The Tar Heels were once again able to shut down the Orange’s hot start, though. A win in deuce kicked off six straight wins for UNC’s Tatum Evans, who took down Sysoeva 6-2 in the first set. Similarly, Bennetto dropped five straight to Claire Hill to lose the set 6-3.
Levivier went down early and was never able to overcome the difference, losing the first set 6-4. Shastova also struggled against the best player in the country in Brantmeier, dropping the first set 6-3 on the way to a UNC sweep of the first sets.
Syracuse didn’t enjoy such a hot start in the second set. Knezkova and Sysoeva both started the second set down 3-0. Sysoeva, down 5-0, won her first game of the second set to avoid a sweep, but lost 6-1 shortly after. Shastova then lost to Brantmeier by the same score.
With North Carolina one point away from victory, it locked down its first conference win of the season, as Kajuru beat out Knezkova 6-2.
Despite Bennetto playing a great second set, winning 6-3, the match was unfinished. Levivier, who was down 4-2 in the second set, also didn’t finish. It contributed to a sweep and SU’s first ACC loss of the season.
