CHARLOTTE — Charlotte Women’s Tennis started its season with flying colors on Friday at Lifetime Fitness thanks to a 5-0 win over Queens, followed by a 7-0 victory over Elon, a qualifier in last year’s NCAA Tournament after winning its conference championship.
“We’re happy to start the season with two wins,” head coach Anthony Davison said. “Some good battles and sharp doubles, but definitely a lot to work on too. We can’t wait to keep competing.”
Charlotte controlled play throughout its first match against the Royals, opening with a dominant showing in doubles before carrying the momentum into singles action. Andrea Chacon and Shona Nakano set the tone with a decisive 6-0 win over Simone Bergeron and Madison Cordisco, while Prisca Abbas and Paula Dougherty followed with a 6-2 victory against Cornelia Kack and Lisa Kranec.
The 49ers then secured four straight-set wins in singles, dropping just two games across the four completed matches. Sara Suchankova blanked Bergeron 6-0, 6-0, Abbas defeated Nathalie Marinovitch 6-2, 6-0, Yelyzaveta Chainykova cruised past Alexis Nyborg 6-0, 6-0, and Dougherty closed the day with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Kack.
Charlotte carried that momentum into the second leg, sweeping Elon 7-0 with control across the lineup. Shona Nakano opened singles play with a 6-1, 6-1 victory, while Ni Xi followed with a 7-5, 6-2 win. Lucia Aranda earned a 7-5, 6-1 decision to help secure the team result, and Sara Suchankova added another point with a 7-6(1), 6-4 victory. Yelyzaveta Chainykova rebounded from a first-set loss to post a 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 win, and Prisca Abbas closed the day with a marathon 4-6, 7-6(6), 1-0 (10-8) victory to complete the sweep.
Up Next
Charlotte heads to Clemson on Sunday to face the hosting Tigers at 10 a.m. before completing its doubleheader in a neutral-site match against South Carolina State at 5 p.m.
The 49ers fell in a back-and-forth 4-3 match last year to the Tigers at the Halton-Wagner Tennis Complex, though they upended South Carolina State, 7-0, in last year’s season-opening doubleheader.