FanPost

Women's Tennis Preview--Purdue

I am Cipher, and I function as the unofficial tennis writer at Hammer and Rails. I’ve been impressed with the level of tennis coverage at Testudo Times, and since the Terrapins and Boilermakers battle on Saturday at Schwartz Tennis Center, I thought now would be a good time to give you a preview of Purdue and my analysis of the women’s tennis match on the horizon.

Maryland’s season:

Maryland had been right around the middle of the Big Ten for the past few years, so the expectation was, given relatively little roster shuffling, that they would stay there. That has not been the case. Early season losses to Navy and George Washington were cause for significant concern, and things didn’t get any better. I really wonder if some of those early losses damaged the team psyche and hurt any attempts to right the ship, in a similar manner to Purdue’s 2017 season. The win over Rutgers on March 9th has been their only Big Ten win to this point, and the overall losing streak has reached nine. Maryland needs a big final week of the season to avoid missing the Big Ten tournament for the first time since joining the conference.

Maryland’s roster:

The most baffling part of this season of Maryland tennis is that the roster very heavily resembles last year’s squad that finished right around the middle of the conference. Ekaterina Tour is gone, but every other key player is back and with an extra year of experience under their belts. At the top of the lineup has been Eva Alexandrova, a highly touted prospect out of Russia. She’s taken some lumps this season, but she remains one of Maryland’s more consistent singles players. As well, Millie Stretton is finishing her senior season reasonably well at the #2 spot. According to the box scores that I read; Maryland’s main problem has been the rest of singles. Almost everybody else on the team has really struggled throughout the year. Amber Policare, a former five-star recruit that transferred in from Kansas, has been no exception. The drop-off in play for the remainder of the singles lineup must be fixed if Maryland is going to return to last year’s level. Alexandrova and Stretton combine to form Maryland’s #1 doubles team, and they’ve been competitive, but haven’t received consistent help from the other two doubles spots. Stretton and Arnelle Sullivan are Maryland’s two seniors, and there are no freshmen on the roster.

Purdue’s season:

After a soft 2018 schedule, Coach Glitz decided to beef it up this year to prepare the Boilermakers for a potential NCAA bid. The schedule was heavy on road matches against teams in the top fifty or just outside of it, and Purdue’s record has suffered. The goal was that with almost everybody back from last year’s squad that improved from thirteenth to fifth in the Big Ten, Purdue could pick off a couple of good road wins that would benefit them on the selection day. Unfortunately, the main problem from Purdue’s 2017 season surfaced again: Purdue suffering a long losing streak and losing matches they had no excuse to lose. It wasn’t as bad as it was last time, but the losing streak means that Purdue has no shot at an NCAA berth unless they win the Big Ten tournament, and they’re not even guaranteed to go to that yet. The win over Penn State last Sunday strengthened their position, but they should still win at least one, if not both matches this week to feel sure.

Purdue’s roster:

As mentioned above, other than Rafaella Baquerizo, everybody returns from the 2018 adaption of Purdue women’s tennis. Anchoring the top of the lineup is Silvia Ambrosio, who started the season by making a new Purdue record by reaching #19 on the collegiate circuit. She later became the first Purdue player ever ranked in the top ten but hit a rough patch shortly afterward and dropped some slots. She’s playing well again now and is a fearsome presence at the top of the singles lineup. Ena Babic and Seira Shimizu helped jumpstart the 2018 return to form in their first year, and they usually fill out the #2 and #3 singles spots. However, they’ve had some growing pains this year, and neither of them have been consistently winning. Amina Mukhametshina and Alex Sabe take the #4 and #5 spots in singles, and while both have had their moments, they’ve struggled with consistency as well. I could see either Caitlin Calkins or Zala Dovnik at the #6 singles spot, and both have been reasonably good in that slot. In doubles, Ambrosio and Mukhametshina have taken the top slot all year and have stared down some of the best doubles teams on the collegiate circuit. The other two spots have been more fluid, but I think Purdue has their pairings for the rest of the season.

Expected lineups:

Doubles:

#1: Alexandrova/Stretton (MD) vs #46 Ambrosio/Mukhametshina (PUR)

#2: Gevel/Sullivan (MD) vs Babic/Calkins (PUR)

#3: Usui/Yemelyanenka (MD) vs Dovnik/Sabe (PUR)

Singles:

#1: Eva Alexandrova (MD) vs #30 Silvia Ambrosio (PUR)

#2: Millie Stretton (MD) vs Ena Babic (PUR)

#3: Anastasia Gevel (MD) vs Seira Shimizu (PUR)

#4: Arnelle Sullivan (MD) vs Amina Mukhametshina (PUR)

#5: Zoe Kulkarni (MD) vs Alex Sabe (PUR)

#6: Katsiaryna Yemelyanenka (MD) vs Caitlin Calkins (PUR)

Analysis:

Two teams come into this match that have hoped for so much more from this season than they actually received. Both of them expected at least a top half showing in the Big Ten, but now they’re fighting to make the Big Ten tournament. Ultimately, I have to give the nod to Purdue: they’ve finally figured out how to win. Even against conference heavyweights early in the season, the Boilermakers dug in their heels and battled to the end. Furthermore, Purdue has snapped their long losing streak, while Maryland has yet to take care of that. I predict that Purdue wins 4-0 if they cut it after the fourth point and 6-1 if they let all of the matches finish. I will answer any questions if they exist.



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