10-07-2019, 08:32 AM
So, after Gordon lost to Pepperdine's Failla, Stanford had more consolation matches to play throughout the weekend. Those went as follows:
* #30 Arbuthnott d. Sasha Hills (FSU) 6-1, 6-1
* #60 Shin d. Margaryta Bilokin (Duke) 6-3, 6-3
* Valentina Ivanova (Cal) d. #93 Madurawe, 6-4, 6-1
* #113 Elena Christofi (Georgia) d. #30 Arbuthnott, 6-3, 7-6
* #6 Gordon d. Anastasia Iamachkine (Pepperdine) 6-2, 6-0
* #60 Shin d. Elizabeth Goldsmith (USD) 6-1, 6-2
* #93 Madurawe d. Samantha Hampton (ASU) 5-7, 6-1, 6-4
In doubles, we saw the teams get mixed up, Arbuthnott partnering with Shin, Gordon partnering with Madurawe, and then Gordon with Shin, before they returned to their usual partners on Sunday.
In Moraga, Saturday saw both Choy and Blake reach the semifinals, mostly with little difficulty. In the semifinal yesterday, Blake steamrolled a player from San Jose State, 6-2, 6-0, while Choy withdrew before the match due to injury and her opponent (UOP's Klara Kosan) received a walkover into the final. Kosan gave Blake a run for it, but Blake won her first collegiate title, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2.
A great weekend for Blake, no question. A collegiate title is always worth celebrating, even if she was only really pushed in the final, and even then didn't have much of a problem after shaking off the first set.
A good tournament from Gordon, too. She went 3-1, with wins over #35 Drummy, Georgia's Lea Ma, and Pepperdine's Anastasia Iamachkine (who is unranked, but will be ranked very soon--she herself beat #24 Rosenqvist of Cal and #47 Pairone of Michigan this tournament), against just one loss--to #32 Failla (who was dominant until she ran into another Pepperdine buzzsaw, #14 Ashley Lahey, in the final).
Shin did herself credit. She lost to #13 Marta Gonzalez of Georgia, but pushed her to three sets. She then got two wins in the consolation bracket, including a solid win over Duke's likely #3 singles player this season. Not great from Madurawe or Arbuthnott, but it's the first tournament of the year, so it's a mistake to draw too many conclusions. Good to see Gordon playing well, though, and since Shin will likely be playing up a couple spots this year, it's encouraging to see her be competitive as well. If Blake keeps playing like that, she may force herself into the singles lineup ahead of Madurawe or Choy, too.
On that note, this is what I'm guessing we'll see once the dual match season starts in the new year, with the caveat that I'm only really confident about the first three singles lines, and 4-6 could be shuffled, and I wouldn't be shocked at all to see Blake in the lineup over Madurawe or Choy:
1. Gordon
2. Arbuthnott
3. Shin
4. Higuchi
5. Madurawe
6. Choy
* #30 Arbuthnott d. Sasha Hills (FSU) 6-1, 6-1
* #60 Shin d. Margaryta Bilokin (Duke) 6-3, 6-3
* Valentina Ivanova (Cal) d. #93 Madurawe, 6-4, 6-1
* #113 Elena Christofi (Georgia) d. #30 Arbuthnott, 6-3, 7-6
* #6 Gordon d. Anastasia Iamachkine (Pepperdine) 6-2, 6-0
* #60 Shin d. Elizabeth Goldsmith (USD) 6-1, 6-2
* #93 Madurawe d. Samantha Hampton (ASU) 5-7, 6-1, 6-4
In doubles, we saw the teams get mixed up, Arbuthnott partnering with Shin, Gordon partnering with Madurawe, and then Gordon with Shin, before they returned to their usual partners on Sunday.
In Moraga, Saturday saw both Choy and Blake reach the semifinals, mostly with little difficulty. In the semifinal yesterday, Blake steamrolled a player from San Jose State, 6-2, 6-0, while Choy withdrew before the match due to injury and her opponent (UOP's Klara Kosan) received a walkover into the final. Kosan gave Blake a run for it, but Blake won her first collegiate title, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2.
A great weekend for Blake, no question. A collegiate title is always worth celebrating, even if she was only really pushed in the final, and even then didn't have much of a problem after shaking off the first set.
A good tournament from Gordon, too. She went 3-1, with wins over #35 Drummy, Georgia's Lea Ma, and Pepperdine's Anastasia Iamachkine (who is unranked, but will be ranked very soon--she herself beat #24 Rosenqvist of Cal and #47 Pairone of Michigan this tournament), against just one loss--to #32 Failla (who was dominant until she ran into another Pepperdine buzzsaw, #14 Ashley Lahey, in the final).
Shin did herself credit. She lost to #13 Marta Gonzalez of Georgia, but pushed her to three sets. She then got two wins in the consolation bracket, including a solid win over Duke's likely #3 singles player this season. Not great from Madurawe or Arbuthnott, but it's the first tournament of the year, so it's a mistake to draw too many conclusions. Good to see Gordon playing well, though, and since Shin will likely be playing up a couple spots this year, it's encouraging to see her be competitive as well. If Blake keeps playing like that, she may force herself into the singles lineup ahead of Madurawe or Choy, too.
On that note, this is what I'm guessing we'll see once the dual match season starts in the new year, with the caveat that I'm only really confident about the first three singles lines, and 4-6 could be shuffled, and I wouldn't be shocked at all to see Blake in the lineup over Madurawe or Choy:
1. Gordon
2. Arbuthnott
3. Shin
4. Higuchi
5. Madurawe
6. Choy