URBANA, Ill. – Freshman Ariel Madatali clinched the 4-2 home-opening victory for Fighting Illini women's tennis over Northwestern on Saturday. Action took place from inside the Atkins Tennis Center as the Orange and Blue climbed to 1-1 on the season.
Saturday's meeting marked the 68th meeting all-time between Illinois and Northwestern. The Fighting Illini are 13-55 all-time vs. the Wildcats. Illinois has claimed the last five decisions between the sides.
At No. 1 doubles, after trailing 1-2 early on, Megan Heuser and Kida Ferrari rattled off three straight games to take a 4-2 lead over Northwestern's top duo. The Wildcat tandem fought back and knotted the contest at 4-4 before the Illini claimed the 6-4 victory and were the first off the courts.
McKenna Schaefbauer and Kasia Treiber would suffer a 7-5 loss to No. 42 ranked Lau/Dagan Fruchtman at No. 2 doubles. The Illini tandem trailed 4-1 and 3-5 before battling back to knot the action at 5-5.
Alice Xu and Violeta Martinez earned a 7-6(3) win over their Northwestern counterparts to clinch the second doubles point of the season for Illinois. The Illini duo trailed 0-1 and 4-5 but came through with the victory.
Illinois would take a 2-0 lead on the day when No. 109-ranked Schaefbauer earned a 7-6(2), 6-2 straight-set victory on the top singles court.
Northwestern took the next decision, a 6-2, 7-5 win at No. 6 singles, bringing the match score to 2-1.
Heuser followed with a win at No. 2 singles, battling to a 7-6(4), 6-4 decision. Northwestern answered right back with a three-set win at No. 5 singles, a 6-3, 6-7(2), 6-4 decision.
Fighting Illini freshman Ariel Madatali earned the first clinch of her collegiate career with a three-set, comeback win at No. 4 singles. After dropping the first set 2-6, the St. Louis native won back-to-back 6-2 frames to clinch the 4-2 victory for Illinois.
FINAL SCORE: ILLINOIS (1-1) 4, NORTHWESTERN (1-1) 2
Doubles
No. 1 – Megan Heuser/Kida Ferrari def. Pratt/Jessel (Northwestern) – 6-4
No. 2 – No. 42 Lau/Dagan Fruchtman (Northwestern) def. McKenna Schaefbauer/Kasia Treiber – 7-5
No. 3 – Alice Xu/Violeta Martinez vs. Loureiro/Feldman (Northwestern) – 7-6(3)
Singles
No. 1 – No. 109 McKenna Schaefbauer def. Mike Dagan Fruchtman (Northwestern) - 7-6(2), 6-2
No. 2 – Megan Heuser def. Erica Jessel (Northwestern) - 7-6(4), 6-4
No. 3 – No. 111 Violeta Martinez vs. Britany Lau (Northwestern) - 5-7, 6-1, 4-5 unfinished
No. 4 – Ariel Madatali def. Autumn Rabjohns (Northwestern) - 2-6, 6-2, 6-2
No. 5 – Neena Feldman (Northwestern) def. Kida Ferrari - 6-3, 6-7(2), 6-4
No. 6 – Sydney Pratt (Northwestern) def. Kasia Treiber - 6-2, 7-5
Order of Finish
Doubles: 1, 2, 3
Singles: 1, 6, 2, 5, 4
Duration: 3:27
Attendance: 149
Played indoors
NEXT UP
Illinois' homestand continues as Georgia Tech (Jan. 31) and Colorado (Feb. 2) before switching gears to host the ITA National Indoor Championships from Feb. 7-9.
