Coming off of a Regional title and an upset against the best doubles duo in the country, junior Kate Duong and sophomore Megan Heuser reunited with the rest of Illinois for their last competition of the fall season. Beginning last Sunday with the qualifying singles draw and wrapping up this Friday with the doubles championship, the Fighting Illini Open UTSA/ITF 15k marked Illinois’ second home competition of the fall season.

Six of the eight Illini competed in the professional event, with senior Emily Casati and freshman Violetta Martinez being unable to compete.

The competition began for the Illini with senior Josie Frazier, along with sophomores Kasia Treiber and Kida Ferrari attempting to battle their way out of the qualifying draw. After surviving the first round, Frazier and Treiber had to face off against one another for the opportunity to be the lone Illini to make it out of the qualifying draw. After getting the better of Frazier in two sets, Treiber was off to the main draw.

The first round of the doubles draw saw another Illini on Illini matchup, as Duong and Heuser were matched up against Ferrari and Treiber. With the recently acquired title of best duo in the Midwest, Duong and Heuser advanced to the next round, in two sets. Senior Ashley Yeah and Frazier also advanced to the next round after pulling off a comeback three-set victory.

With four Illini in the main singles draw, Tuesday was an active day for the Illini. After dropping the first set 1-6, Yeah came back to win her match with a pair of 6-4 and 6-1 victories. The opposite occurred to Heuser, who battled for a 7-5 first-set victory against No. 6 Tori Kinard before dropping the next two sets. Treiber and her opponent traded 6-1 victories in the first two sets, but it was Treiber who came out on top when it mattered the most as she took the third set 6-4. The only Illini who did not go to three sets was Duong, who took care of business with 6-4 and 6-1 victories en route to the next round.

In the next round, the Illini got another chance to defeat Kinard, but once again Kinard prevailed in a three set match against Treiber. Yeah followed a similar route to victory as before, dropping the first set before winning the second and third. Once again, Duong was the only Illini not in a nailbiter, claiming her spot in the quarterfinals with two 6-3 sets.

Later that day, the Illini jumped into the second round of the doubles draw. Yeah and Frazier were unable to get much done against No. 1 Kononova and Kozyreva, winning just three games across two sets. After losing their first set in a tiebreaker game, Duong and Heuser kept Illinois’ hopes of another doubles championship alive by winning back to back sets.

Things were winding down by Thursday, with just Yeah and Duong remaining in the singles draw while Duong and Heuser were the only Illinois duo still standing. Refusing to drop a single set, Duong once again defeated her opponent in two sets to earn a spot in the singles semifinals. Unfortunately for Illinois, Yeah was matched up against eventual champion Fangran Tian who took the match in two sets.

In the doubles semifinals, Duong and Heuser seemed in total control after dropping just one game in the first set, but their opponents were able to rally to force a third set. The duo were able to pull out a close 11-9 victory for the tiebreaker game, punching their ticket to the doubles finals.

On the final day of competition for the Illini, Duong kicked off action for the Illini in the singles semifinal, where she was eliminated in two sets. Determined to rebound from Duong’s singles loss and get revenge for the elimination of Yeah and Fazier, Duong and Heuser defeated Kononova and Kozyreva in two sets, including a 6-0 sweep in the first set and a tie breaker win in the second set.

This was Duong and Heuser’s first professional doubles championship and their second doubles championship in three weeks.

This week of play capped off an extremely successful fall season for Illinois women’s tennis. Several impressive performances at invitationals, two doubles championships, one singles championship in professional play and a historic run at ITA Regional and National competitions may be a good indication of how Illinois’ spring season will unfold.

Illinois women’s tennis will be back in action this January to kick off its spring season.

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