INDIANAPOLIS - New year, same success for UIndy's Tyffaine Pais, who won the ITA Midwest Regional tournament this weekend, defeating Findlay's Anamarija Kovacevic in the Flight A singles draw. Pais prevailed through the face of elimination in four consecutive matches to remain the tournament's champion, as she was crowned the winner in the 2023 tournament.
Jimena De Pablos Hernando was the runner-up in the Flight B singles draw, after falling to Findlay's Polina Zaytseva.
DAY 1
On the tournament's opening day, the Greyhounds got off to a strong start in the respective singles draws, where Pais and Suryanshi both defeated their opponent in straight sets in the Flight A draw to move to the round of 32. Pais continued her dominance in the round of 32, winning in straight sets once again to move on to the next day. De Pablos Hernando and
Linya Chen advanced out of the first round of the singles draw in Flight B. De Pablos Hernando held her opponent to zero games in the round of 32 to move into the round of 16.
The doubles draw kicked off Saturday evening, where the doubles team of
Tyffaine Pais/
Sofia Cardenas crushed Northwood's Danilovic/Gomez 8-1 in Flight A to advance to Sunday's round of 32. De Pablos Hernando/Chen pushed through the round of 32, after defeating Rockhurst's Bytyqi/Ulrich 8-4.
DAY 2
In the second day of the tournament, De Pablos Hernando kept her foot on the gas pedal, with a 6-1 6-1 victory in the round of 16 and a 6-1 6-1 win in the quarterfinal to advance to Monday's semifinal. De Pablos Hernando had not lost a set at this point in the tournament. Pais, on the other hand, had to claw past hardship brought forth by her round of 16 opponent, Jordane Dookie of Lewis University. Pais cruised through the first set, winning 6-3. But Dookie returned the favor in the second, finding a service break over Pais to force a 10 point tiebreak set to decide the match. As Pais faced elimination, she ravaged through the breaker, winning 10-2 over Dookie to move into the quarterfinal in Flight A.
The 2023 ITA Midwest Champ was met with more adversity in the quarterfinal. Pais dropped the first set 2-6 to Southwest Baptist's Paula Ballesteros. Pais and Ballesteros went toe-to-toe in the second set, yielding a tiebreak to decide the match. Pais, with her back against the wall, broke the serve of Ballesteros in the breaker to win the set 7-4, forcing another 10-point tiebreak to establish a winner. Pais took this change in pace and ran with it, dominating the deciding tiebreak 10-2 to move into the tournament's semifinal.
Day two doubles began with the tandem of De Pablos Hernando/Chen coming out on top against Walsh's Kibler/Padberg, winning 8-4 in Flight B. Pais/Cardenas, coming off a huge 8-1 victory in the first round, were cut short of their run in the Flight A draw due to an injury retirement in their match against Hillsdale's McGivern/Dannhauser. De Pablos Hernando/Chen moved to the quarterfinal of the tournament, where they were narrowly defeated by Findlay's Lucero/Croteau 5-8.
DAY 3
Going into the final day of the tournament, Pais drew Wayne State's Martyna Szpakowska in the semifinals, and De Pablos Hernando faced Valentina Mozas of Grand Valley State. Szpakowska put Pais on the ropes early, clinching the first set 6-3. But Pais was unfazed by this adversity, and bageled Szpakowska 6-0 to advance to another match-deciding tiebreak. With the momentum on her side, she won the tiebreak 10-3 to reach the final for the second straight year.
De Pablos Hernando and Mozas went neck and neck to start the first set, but De Pablos Hernando found a break in serve to win 7-5. The second set gave another tightnit contest, going to a tiebreak. Mozas broke De Pablos Hernando's serve to win the second set breaker to go to a final tiebreak. The final tiebreak was consistent with the first two sets of the match, with both players taking their turn showing flashes of strength. De Pablos Hernando outfought Mozas 10-7 in the deciding tiebreak to persevere into the Flight B final.
The Flight A finals would be decided between Pais and Anamarija Kovacevic of Findlay University. In the first set, Kovacevic got up a break on Pais and didn't look back, winning 6-3. But Pais displayed her grit in the second, rebounding with multiple service breaks against Kovacevic to win 6-0. Pais, determined to keep her crown as the tournament's champion, dug her heels in the third set, quickly going up a break. Pais wasted no time distancing herself from Kovacevic, and firmly remained in the driver's seat for the rest of the third, winning 6-2 to become back-to-back champion of the ITA Midwest Regional Tournament in Flight A.
Meanwhile, for De Pablos Hernando, she drew Polina Zaytseva from Findlay. The first set went to Zaytseva 6-3, as De Pablos Hernando couldn't hold serve. The second set was narrowly contested, as both De Pablos Hernando and Zaytseva went back and forth to reach a tiebreak in the second. Despite her valiant effort, she was defeated by a nose 6-8 in the final.
INSIDE THE LINE
- Tyffaine Pais extends the Hounds' dominance in the ITA Midwest Region, championing the tournament in back-to-back years. Pais faced elimination four times in the tournament to prevail as the winner.
- Jimena De Pablos Hernando didn't lose a set until the semifinal match, winning in straight sets in the first four rounds of the tournament.
- Sofia Cardenas was the runner-up in the consolation tournament, earning her first victories as a Greyhound.
- Suryanshi and Linya Chen also picked up their first wins in the Crimson & Grey.
- Silvia Zappoli made her debut as a Greyhound, but wasn't able to make it out of the first round.
UP NEXT
Pais advanced to the ITA National Cup in Rome, Ga. That tournament will begin Thursday, Oct. 10, and will run through Sunday, Oct. 13.
