11-04-2021, 11:26 AM
(This post was last modified: 11-04-2021, 01:14 PM by ColoradoTree.)
Yepifanova-Cayetano now getting started on that stadium court with Cayetano up first. 30-all as Yepifanova brings out that great drop shot of hers and Cayetano doesn't even chase after it. Too good. Yepifanova forces a deciding point and Cayetano sends it wide! Sasha breaks the first game of the match and leads 1-0.
Cayetano breaks back for 1-1, but Yepifanova has a dominant return game and breaks again for a 2-1 lead.
They trade some straightforward holds of serve and Sasha leads 3-2, still up a break.
Cayetano breaks for 3-3, and on her serve, Yepifanova gets it to a deciding point and breaks for a 4-3 lead. Yepifanova has shown some emotion early and has been more expressive than we saw in Northwest Regionals. Can she come out and consolidate that break?
She cannot. Cayetano takes deciding point for 4-4 and then holds easily for 5-4. Yepifanova seems visibly frustrated to me; hopefully Frankie Brennan can calm her down here and she can deliver a good service game to extend the set.
It was a great service game and it's 5-5. But Cayetano answers back with one of her own, and Sasha will serve down 5-6 to force a tiebreak. This is much more tentative tennis from Sasha than we saw at Northwest Regionals.
She goes down early but gets it back to yet another deciding point. She sprays a backhand well wide despite having time, and Cayetano takes the first set 7-5. Cayetano is playing well, and Sasha isn't playing her best. Plenty of time to get it figured out, though.
Sasha forces a deciding point on Cayetano's serve to open the second set and takes it on a double fault. Leads 1-0 in the second, down a set but up a break. Then a strong service game to hold for 2-0, before a Cayetano ace on deciding point makes it 2-1.
Ugh. Cayetano now up 3-2 in the second. Sasha has now been up a break four times and has given the lead back each time. Sigh. You rarely win playing tight, tentative tennis, folks. Cayetano has been on the front foot all match long, with Yepifanova seemingly content to play defensively. Seemingly lacking the confidence in her shots to go down the line like she did in her big win over Wong.
But she's not going away! Holds for 3-3 and then breaks Cayetano to go back up a break, 4-3. Can she consolidate the break this time?!
Narrator: she could not. Three backhands into the net and it's 4-4. Sasha's serve has been ok, but that backhand has been rough. Cayetano has it relatively easy on her serve, moving Sasha around, and it's now a 7-5, 5-4 lead for Cayetano. Again, Yepifanova will serve to stay in a set that she once led by a break at least twice.
Sigh. On yet another deciding point, Cayetano moves Sasha all over the court and it's a 7-5, 6-4 win over Yepifanova. Doubles next. The silver lining, I suppose, is that Cayetano might be USC's #1, she played well, Sasha didn't, and it was still very close.
Cayetano breaks back for 1-1, but Yepifanova has a dominant return game and breaks again for a 2-1 lead.
They trade some straightforward holds of serve and Sasha leads 3-2, still up a break.
Cayetano breaks for 3-3, and on her serve, Yepifanova gets it to a deciding point and breaks for a 4-3 lead. Yepifanova has shown some emotion early and has been more expressive than we saw in Northwest Regionals. Can she come out and consolidate that break?
She cannot. Cayetano takes deciding point for 4-4 and then holds easily for 5-4. Yepifanova seems visibly frustrated to me; hopefully Frankie Brennan can calm her down here and she can deliver a good service game to extend the set.
It was a great service game and it's 5-5. But Cayetano answers back with one of her own, and Sasha will serve down 5-6 to force a tiebreak. This is much more tentative tennis from Sasha than we saw at Northwest Regionals.
She goes down early but gets it back to yet another deciding point. She sprays a backhand well wide despite having time, and Cayetano takes the first set 7-5. Cayetano is playing well, and Sasha isn't playing her best. Plenty of time to get it figured out, though.
Sasha forces a deciding point on Cayetano's serve to open the second set and takes it on a double fault. Leads 1-0 in the second, down a set but up a break. Then a strong service game to hold for 2-0, before a Cayetano ace on deciding point makes it 2-1.
Ugh. Cayetano now up 3-2 in the second. Sasha has now been up a break four times and has given the lead back each time. Sigh. You rarely win playing tight, tentative tennis, folks. Cayetano has been on the front foot all match long, with Yepifanova seemingly content to play defensively. Seemingly lacking the confidence in her shots to go down the line like she did in her big win over Wong.
But she's not going away! Holds for 3-3 and then breaks Cayetano to go back up a break, 4-3. Can she consolidate the break this time?!
Narrator: she could not. Three backhands into the net and it's 4-4. Sasha's serve has been ok, but that backhand has been rough. Cayetano has it relatively easy on her serve, moving Sasha around, and it's now a 7-5, 5-4 lead for Cayetano. Again, Yepifanova will serve to stay in a set that she once led by a break at least twice.
Sigh. On yet another deciding point, Cayetano moves Sasha all over the court and it's a 7-5, 6-4 win over Yepifanova. Doubles next. The silver lining, I suppose, is that Cayetano might be USC's #1, she played well, Sasha didn't, and it was still very close.