Resende finishes ITA Cup with semifinals appearance
ROME, Ga. – It was semifinals Saturday from the Rome Tennis Center as the 2021 ITA Cup saw its third day of action commence
ROME, Ga. – It was semifinals Saturday from the Rome Tennis Center as the 2021 ITA Cup saw its third day of action commence. Carson-Newman women's tennis senior Ana Carla Resende (Minas Gerais, Brazil) has been almost unstoppable thus far, as she would face the number one overall seed in Saturday's semifinal matchup.
It would be C-N's Resende taking on the ITA Cup's number one overall seed and the overall number one women's singles player in Division II, Barry's Deniz Khazan. So far this fall season, Khazan has competed alongside her Bucs teammates in the ITA South Region from September 24 through September 27.
Khazan would end up becoming the women's singles ITA South region champion after sweeping through competition from Palm Beach Atlantic, Embry-Riddle, West Florida, Lynn, and Nova-Southeastern. In her round of 64, it would be Khazan winning 6-1, 6-2 over Jasmine Williams of Palm Beach Atlantic. She then defeated Embry-Riddle's Jessica Christa Wira Hadipoernomo in the round of 32 with a result of 6-1, 6-2. In the round of 16, Khazan kept the winning going as she swept Irene Recuenco of West Florida 6-2, 6-0.
The quarterfinals saw Khazan face Giorgia Pigato from Lynn and was able to win 6-4 in the first set before seeing her opponent retire in the second set due to injury. Finally, both semifinals and finals matchups for Khazan saw opponents from Nova-Southeastern. In the semifinals, Khazan defeated Natalie Espinal 6-4, 6-2 before her opponent retired. Finally, the finals of the ITA South regional was Khazan versus Kozar from Nova-Southeastern, as the Buc did not drop a set as she swept 6-0, 6-0.
After helping Ana Carla secure a semifinals spot on Friday, Carson-Newman tennis graduate assistant Gabriel Dabdab said "the battle continues as she faces the #1 seed and the #1 overall in the country from Barry. We all have plenty of confidence that she'll play a great match against Khazan and that nothing is impossible anymore."
Saturday was an early morning round of tennis as action got started at 10:30 a.m. from the Rome Tennis Center for Resende and Khazan. Khazan lived up to the hype of being number one overall seed as she took home the 6-1, 6-2 result.
"We knew that it was going to be the toughest match so far. Ana tried different strategies within the match, but her opponent showed why she is #1 for a reason," Dabdab said. "Ana is an ITA Cup semifinalist which means she is in the top four players in the country, and we couldn't be more proud."
Both sets were controlled by Khazan in terms of momentum as she came out firing and proved why she is the number one overall seed and player in the nation. She forced Ana Carla to change her playing style, but nothing could work and get past the tenacity of Khazan. The Brazil native proved her worth as a top four player in the nation as an ITA Cup semifinalist as she was only the third athlete to score in both sets against Khazan this season.
"I have no doubt that the best is yet to come and the goal of being an All-American is more alive today than it has ever been," Dabdab said. "We're looking forward to a great season in the spring."
Ana Carla Resende was able to get to Saturday's slate of semifinals after defeating Anna Novikova from the University of Indianapolis 6-1, 6-2 on Friday. The Brazil native got her time in Rome started off with a 7-5, 6-1 victory on Thursday over Taylor Leslie from Dallas Baptist as both athletes came in as an at-large selection for the ITA Cup.
Resende and the rest of the Carson-Newman women's tennis program will get ready and prepare for the Eagle Invitational to take place from Tyson Park in Knoxville, Tennessee on October 22 and 23.
Be sure to follow all things Carson-Newman women's tennis during the 2021-22 season via cneagles.com and all of Carson-Newman's social media platforms.
