College Tennis News - Mar Claims Singles and Doubles Titles at ITA Regionals

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Junior Hanna Mar claimed the title in both the singles and doubles championships on Monday at the ITA Regionals at the Wake Forest Indoor Tennis Center in Winston-Salem, N.C. In singles play, Mar downed No. 26 Zoe DeBruycker of North Carolina before teaming up with sophomore Ester Goldfeld to cruise past top-seeded Jaklin Alawi and Dominika Kanakva of South Carolina in the doubles championship. With the win, Mar and Goldfeld qualify for the ITA National Indoor Championships in New York, N.Y., Nov. 8-11.

“It was a great weekend, and I am really happy with how everything turned out,” said Mar. “I am really happy with how I played, and can’t be happier right now. I think I gained a lot of confidence over the weekend. It all just kind of came together at the end, and I was fortunate enough to play really well this morning.”

In the singles championship match, Mar broke serve early in the first set and cruised to an easy 6-1 win. In the second set, Mar continued to play as the aggressor and cruised to a 6-3 victory to claim the title, her second title of the fall season. The win caps a week in which Mar went 6-0 against including her victory over No. 26 DeBruycker in the championship match.

After going 6-0 this week, Mar now owns an 11-2 record this fall. In the first round on Friday, No.35 Hanna Mar cruised past Nicole Martinez of North Carolina State, 6-4, 6-2, before defeating Brooke McAmis of College of Charleston, 6-4, 6-2, to advance to the quarterfinal. Mar then downed No. 63 Jaklin Alawi of South Carolina, 6-2, 6-2 before outlasting Yana Koroleva of Clemson, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 to advance to the championship match.

“She does a really good job of believing in herself,” said head coach Jamie Ashworth. “She knows what she does well and she executes it. To beat Hanna, you have to come out and really play well because she is so quick on the court and anticipates so well that she gets to a lot of balls that a lot of people don’t get to. She makes you go for more than you want to because of her speed. She really uses her speed to her advantage. It was really a great day for her.”

Just hours after competing in the singles championship, Mar joined Goldfeld in the championship match of the doubles main draw. Despite not playing together in a tournament before this weekend, the duo of Mar and Goldfeld downed top-seeded Alawi and Kanakva, 8-2.

“Coming into each match, Hanna and I had a pretty clear game plan, so we knew what we had to do from the start,” said Goldfeld. “We did a really good job with the basics: our returns, our serves, approaching on the volleys that we need to approach on.”

On the weekend, the Blue Devils recorded a 14-4 record in singles and 7-1in doubles.

“I think we established ourselves as one of the best teams in the region, and that is what we wanted to do. We want people to know what kind of depth we have, we want people to know that one through eight we are one of the most dominant teams, so just to have that fear when we play dual matches is a good thing.”

Despite the solid performance, Ashworth still believes there is room for growth.

“We need to keep taking advantage of positions that we are in, and working on the momentum of matches all the way through,” said Ashworth. “In singles and in doubles, we had some chances where maybe we could have won some sets easier or put some sets away when we had the chance, so I think we need to keep working on understanding the momentum of the match. Heading into the spring, we need to do a better job of that.”

The Blue Devils are next slated to compete at the USTA Invitational Nov. 2-4 in Portland, Ore.

Singles Main Draw

First Round
No. 35 Hanna Mar (Duke) def. Nicole Martinez (NCSU), 6-4, 6-2

Second Round
No. 35 Hanna Mar (Duke) def. Brooke McAmis (C of C), 6-4, 6-2

Round of 16
No. 35 Hanna Mar (Duke) def. Tessa Lyons (UNC), 7-5, 6-2

Quarterfinals
No. 35 Hanna Mar (Duke) def. No. 63 Jaklin Alawi (SC), 6-2, 6-2

Semifinals
No. 35 Hanna Mar (Duke) def. Yana Koroleva (Clemson), 6-4, 4-6, 6-3

Championship Match
No. 35 Hanna Mar (Duke) def. No. 26 Zoe DeBruycker, 6-1, 6-3

Doubles Main Draw

First Round
Goldfeld/Mar (Duke) def. Martinez/Sipers (NCSU), 8-1

Second Round
Goldfeld/Mar (Duke) def. Alkema/Garcia (Winthrop), 8-3

Quarterfinals
Goldfeld/Mar (Duke) def. Jansacker/Johnston (Elon), 8-5

Semifinals
Goldfeld/Mar (Duke) def. Dai/Kay (UNC), 8-4

Championship Match
Goldfeld/Mar (Duke) def. Alawi/Kanakova, 8-2