Syracuse tennis dominates Coppin State in 7-0 win

Syracuse tennis dominates Coppin State in 7-0 win

Zeynep Erman and Ines Fonte pair up for doubles in impressive fashion.
Published: March 4, 2023
Syracuse women's tennis wins against Buffalo on Feb. 13, 2023.
Syracuse women's tennis wins against Buffalo on Feb. 13, 2023.

After four consecutive ACC plays, Syracuse clashed with a non-conference team Coppin State at Drumlin Country Club on Saturday, dominating the Eagles without a double set and a single-game loss.

Syracuse adjusted the doubles ladder again, putting Zeynep Erman and Ines Fonte as the No. 1 doubles team and pairing Vicktoriya Kanapatskaya with  Shiori Ito. There were two doubles and four singles for the whole game since Coppin State only arranged four players in the entry.

Fonte cooperated with Erman positively against the Eagles’ duo of Megan Etienne and Emperess Johnson, taking their assignment back and forth and immediately establishing a 2-0 advantage. But Fonte committed a series of unforced errors, struggling to return the ball right to the Eagles zone.

After losing two games, Erman soon stood up and scored, giving powerful serves to take the dominance back. Fonte awakened in front of the net and contributed good net plays by smashing. Later, she helped close out the set 6-3.

In the second doubles, Ito and Kanapataskaya handled the set against Kenyange Kaounde and Mackenzie Jones at ease. Without the great tension from the previous game against Virginia, Ito regrouped herself and showed her outstanding talent in moving, striking from the back and tipping at the front. The Orange didn’t lose any games and secured its doubles point 6-0.

With a four-game losing streak in singles, Miyuka Kimoto surprisingly became the No. 1 against Etienne. Kimoto set her pace, returning several deep shots to determine her first-set win 6-0. She became confident in the second set and took over another 6-0 win, ultimately acquiring her first singles win since February 13. 

“It was really important for her (Miyuka Kimoto) to set the tone early in the match and build her confidence,” Syracuse head coach Younes Limam said. “I think confidence comes from winning, and (I’m) very pleased to see her today get that win.”

The player who extended her win-streak record was Kozyreva, sweeping Coppin State’s Jones in a straight set 6-0 and 6-0. She put her strength in her offensive tennis, forcing numerous errors from Jones and setting up the winning tone from beginning to end. She is flaming with 11 straight wins. 

Ito continued her decent state from doubles, frustrating Kaounde in a straight set with the same ease. Fonte showed her athleticism, expanding her returning range from the net to the area behind the bottom line. She reduced her unforced errors compared to the last game against Virginia, and forced Eagle’s Johnson errors instead, winning another dominant straight set (6-0, 6-0) for Syracuse.

“It was important for us to come in here today with the right attitude and just to redeem ourselves after a tough one yesterday,” Limam said. “(I’m) very pleased on being professional and efficient on the core and just not wasting a lot of energy.”

Syracuse will stay at their home court Sunday and face Virginia Tech (8-4) at 11 a.m.