ARLINGTON, TEXAS – UT Tyler women's tennis put several strong runs together over the three day ITA South Central Regional tournament as Mukan Gupta and Allison Schwartz have earned consideration for the ITA Cup to take place next month in Rome, Georgia.
 
THURSDAY
 
Action began on Thursday morning in singles, as #5 seed Gupta picked up a quick 6-2, 6-0 win over her first opponent before dispatching her next foe in scores of 6-2, 6-3 to advance herself into the Round of 16 after one day.
 
Behind Gupta, #12 seed Violetta Khisamova picked up her own pair of straight set wins as she dispatched her opponents 6-1, 6-0 and 6-4, 6-2 to also move into the Round of 16.
 
Not to be outdone, #13 seed Schwartz joined the Patriots party in the Round of 16, as she picked up a pair of dramatic tiebreaker wins to move herself forward. Her first opponent was beaten with scores of 7-6, 4-6, 10-6, and her second victory came with scores of 6-4, 5-7, 10-7.
 
Yelena Kim and Carolina Williams would also pick up first round wins, as Williams won 6-0, 6-0 and Kim won 6-3, 6-0. However, they would each fall to tough competition in the second round and bow out of the main draw.
 
In the doubles competition on Thursday, Kanika Sivaraman and Kim combined to become their own fearsome duo as they picked up a big 8-4 win to open the tournament before pulling off a 8-6 upset victory over the #7 seed to book their ticket to the quarterfinals.
 
Gupta and Schwartz combined as the #5 seed heading into the tournament, and they lived up to the billing as they put together a pair of convincing wins of 8-3 and 8-5 over the first two rounds to move into the quarterfinals themselves.
 
FRIDAY
 
Friday again began with singles, as the Patriots looked to make big moves into the later stages of the tournament. Gupta again set the tone, as she won 6-2, 6-3 in her first match to move into the quarterfinals. There, she delivered big again, claiming the win at 6-3, 6-2 to punch her ticket into the semifinals on Saturday.
 
Joining Gupta in the Round of 16 was Khisamova, and she matched up with the #7 seed in her matchup. Khisamova took the first set at 6-3, but Kateryna Rudenko battled her way back with set wins of 6-4, 6-1 to come from behind and move into the quarterfinals and eliminate Khisamova.
 
Schwartz would also battle with a ranked opponent, this time #8 seed Eva Schwartz. Eva would have the upper hand in this all-Schwartz battle, as she picked up a set win of 6-2 and then 7-6 in dramatic fashion to fight off Allison's furious comeback.
 
Over in doubles, the pair of Sivaraman and Kim would battle tough in their quarterfinal match, but they would fall by a score of 8-5 to come up just shy of the semifinals.
 
Gupta and Schwartz faced their own tough battle, but after going to one extra game they came away with the clutch 9-7 win and punched their ticket to the semifinals.
 
Those semifinals came just an hour later, as they took on #8 seeded Ayda Guler and Avery Durham. The format moved to a best of three set scoring, and Guler and Durham came out quick with a 6-4 win. Gupta and Schwartz battled right back with a 6-1 win to force the tiebreaker. The tiebreaker was close, but Gupta and Schwartz again came out victorious as they advanced into the finals.
 
SATURDAY
 
On Saturday morning, Gupta took on #9 seed Selina Wu in the semifinals of the singles draw. Gupta got out to the quick start, picking up a 7-5 victory in set one. However, Wu battled herself back, and won 6-4 to force the third set. In that third set, Wu would come away victorious as she collected another 6-4 set win to advance to the finals.
 
However, Gupta still had plenty to play for as herself and Schwartz paired up to take on unseeded Sofia Teran and Isabella Rios in the doubles draw finals. Teran and Rios got off to the start they wanted, coming away with a 6-3 win. However, Gupta and Schwartz battled back with a 7-6 win that featured a 7-0 tiebreaker win to even the set count at one. That forced a third set tiebreaker, but it was Teran and Rios who came away with the narrow win by a score of 10-6 to claim the title.
 
For Gupta, she will be under consideration for the ITA Cup in both singles and doubles due to her placement in both draws. She and Schwartz will be under consideration as a doubles pair.
 
Gupta and Schwartz also become the first Patriots women in the Division II era to make it to the finals of the ITA South Central Regional in either the singles or doubles draw.