Freshman Verginie Tchakarova returns the ball in the match Sunday.
Women’s tennis opened its spring season with a 6-1 victory Sunday against Lindsey Wilson.
Though the results seem to show a dominating performance by the Racers, Head Coach Olga Elkin said it was a much closer match.
“We definitely had a little bit of nerves coming out, and the score does not really show how close the match really was,” Elkin said.
In the top singles draw, junior Andrea Eskauriatza faced Lindsey Wilson’s best player. In the opening set, Eskauriatza fell behind early.
“It turned out to be a lot harder than I expected,” she said. “I got lost for a few seconds and started to question if I should change my game.”
Eskauriatza settled down but dropped the first set 7-5. Eskauriatza said after that she got more comfortable.
“I started playing my shots, which gave me more confidence,” she said. “She had a great serve but things changed in the second set.”
Eskauriatza made a turnaround and did not drop a single game in the second set.
Eskauriatza had trouble with her serve, but was able to overcome it and take the match with a 10-7 final set victory.
“Andrea got a different nervous than I had ever seen, and that had me nervous because she wasn’t yelling like usual,” Elkin said. “She overcame it and finished very strong even though it wasn’t like her usual tiebreakers.”
Nationally ranked freshman Eleonore Tchakarova helped the Racers from the No. 3 draw. Tchakarova overcame early nerves before settling down to take the 6-1, 6-1 win.
“She was a little nervous at the beginning and wasn’t really hitting through her shot, but then took care of it,” Elkin said.
Freshman Verginie Tchakarova played nearly as well as her sister from the No. 5 position. After winning a tight first set 6-4, Tchakarova gained momentum and won the match in the final set 6-1.
“Once (Verginie) realized that she was going to win, she got a lot more comfortable and she played her shots like normal,” Elkin said.
One of the closer matches of the day took place in the No. 4 draw spot with sophomore Megan Blue.
In one of the longer matches of the competition, Blue won in straight sets 6-4, 6-3.
“Megan is a grinder and will stay on the court for hours,” Elkin said. “The rest of the team likes to go for the winners, but Megan finds a way to get the points needed.”
With the first match behind them, Murray State focuses on one of its most difficult opponents on its schedule.
The Racers travel to Arkansas State Saturday. IN the fall season, Murray State competed in the Arkansas State Invitational, where Murray State brought home three championships.
Having faced an opponent already this season, Andrea believes she won’t be nervous in the next match.
“I already won my first match of the season so the nerves should be gone,” she said. “I should be more relaxed. She is really good but as long as I’m relaxed, I will play good.”
Elkin’s confidence for Eskauriatza could play a huge role this weekend as the Racers look to defeat Arkansas State for the first time since 1988.
“Andrea is clutch,” Elkin said. “If the match is tied 3-3, I would want Andrea out there.”
Story by Tom Via, Staff writer