MALIBU, Calif. – Fighting Illini junior Asuka Kawai competed nationally at the 2019 Oracle ITA Masters on Thursday (Sept. 26), Friday (Sept. 27) and Saturday (Sept. 28) as the top returning player in the Big Ten Conference. The tournament featured top collegiate players in the country, as 32 men and 32 women competed in singles play and mixed doubles.

Kawai opened play Thursday in the mixed doubles competition at Pepperdine University, paired with Illinois men's tennis' Alex Brown. The 12-seed pair came up short, defeated by their 21st-seeded opponents Brandon Ancona (Valaparaiso) and Anna Riedmiller (Denver), 6-4.

In the singles competition, 12th-seeded Kawai matched up against Alisa Soloveva (Winthrop), the 21-seed in the tournament. The Palatine, Ill., native took the first set 6-4, but Soloveva advanced in the bracket after taking the second and third sets, 6-1 and 6-3, respectively.

Kawai competed Friday in the consolation bracket, notching a 6-2, 7-5 victory over Eastern Illinois' Rachel Papavasilopoulos, the 28-seed in the tournament.

Advancing to play on Saturday, Kawai faced Liberty's Kalani Soli, the 20th-seeded in the tournament. Soli came away with a 7-5, 6-2 win.

Kawai will return to action Saturday, Oct. 5 through Sunday, Oct. 13, at the ITA Women's All-American Championships in Tulsa, Okla.

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