Women's Tennis Competing In Two Tournaments

Tuesday, October 5

Hilton Head, S.C.

Mississippi State

ITF W15

Photo by: Austin Perryman/MSU Athletics

Women's Tennis Competing In Two Tournaments

October 04, 2021 | Women's Tennis

By: Cooper Daras, Student Assistant

Four members of Mississippi State's women's tennis team are off to the Palmetto State of South Carolina to take part in the ITF 15K in Hilton Head on Tuesday and the ITA All-American in Mount Pleasant on Wednesday.

The No. 41 ranked duo Emmanouela Antonaki and Tamara Racine will represent the Bulldogs at the ITA All-American accompanied by head coach Daryl Greenan. Antonaki will represent MSU in singles match play and they will participate in doubles match play together.

No. 22 Antonaki came back after losing the first set to take down 50^th-ranked Megan Davies of South Carolina 4-6, 6-0, 6-1 for her first singles win of the fall at the Debbie Southern Fall Classic on Sept. 18. Meanwhile, Racine lost two nail-biters in three sets during her singles play in that tournament.

"For the first fall tournament I had a great start," Antonaki said. "I'm building my game and just trying to get better every match. I'm very excited [about the ITA All-American]. It is only the second time I have competed [this fall]. I'm really looking forward to it."

There will be plenty of other ranked duos at the ITA All-American and this tournament will be only the fourth time the pair have played as doubles partners. They last played together on Sept. 18.

"The fall has been really nice," Racine said. "We have been practicing a lot. We have some good tournaments coming up like the All-American…I speak for the whole team when I say we feel more confident going into the tournament."

About two hours to the southeast, the No. 41 ranked tandem of Magda Adaloglou and Chloé Cirotte will take part in the qualifying draw of the ITF 15K Hilton Head joined by associate head coach Sachin Kirtane. It will be their second ITF event in the past two weeks having competed in the ITF 15K in Lubbock, Texas from Sept. 26-28.

Adaloglou and Cirotte both received a first round bye in the qualifying draw. On Tuesday at noon, Adaloglou will face Carly Kunkler and Cirotte meets Rebekkah Gaines in hopes of advancing to the main draw.

The last singles action for the pair also took place at the ITF 15K in Lubbock. Adaloglou fell in three sets to No. 75 Mercedes Aristegui of TCU 6-7(9), 6-0, 11-9. Meanwhile, Cirotte lost to Texas Tech's Bojana Marinkov, who had the advantage of playing on her home court.

"This week we are in better shape than the previous week," said Adaloglou. "We know what to expect and we know what we are doing more. In doubles, my expectations and her expectations are higher. In tennis, every detail counts. It is not just 'I could have beaten them' it is to prove it. I really think me and Chloé this year are going to prove it. I will never forget what the head coach, Daryl Greenan told me, 'Your bark should not be bigger than your bite.' I will always have that in my mind and I will work hard to make him proud."

In doubles, the duo has already competed against two top10 opponents this fall. They knocked off No. 8 Anna Brylin and Brooke Killingsworth of Wake Forest at the Debbie Southern Fall Classic on Sept. 17. Most recently, they took on the No. 1 pair in the country - Carmen and Ivana Corley of Oklahoma - at the ITF 15K in Lubbock, Texas but fell in straight sets.

The tandem will again face every high-level competition this week just as they have in their previous two tournaments.

"We work every single day and every tournament we play." Cirotte said "The next one I hope will be better than the previous one. I will definitely be more relaxed and free with my game. I will give my best in doubles with Magda to be successful. We will be with sharks with experience… I'm definitely happy and excited to start the tournament."