University of North Texas Athletics
University of North Texas
ITA Masters
Kononova Makes UNT History But Loses
9/20/2018 8:58:00 PM | Women's Tennis
MALIBU, California — In what was the program's first ever appearance in the prestigious tournament, the Mean Green women's tennis team's senior Maria Kononova lost in the first round of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's Masters Invite Thursday afternoon, 6-2, 6-3.
In the tournament that features the 32 best collegiate tennis players in nation, Kononova fell to USC's Salma Ewing. It was the No. 43 nationally ranked Kononova's first match since the spring and her first match since being fully cleared and healthy from an injury she sustained in the spring. Though she lost, head North Texas tennis coach Sujay Lama believed it was a good building block for what will be a highly anticipated senior season for the Russian native.
"It was great to see Maria back competing fully healthy," Lama said. "It's been a long road to recovery and overall a little rusty today but I was happy with the way she played and competed against a very strong opponent. We have an opportunity to improve tomorrow in the consolations."
Kononova earned the invite to the ITA Masters Invite by being the highest ranked player in Conference USA.
The invite also featured a mixed doubles event, which Kononova was paired alongside the Conference USA men's representative Aziz Kijametovic of Old Dominion, who like Kononova qualified last year for the NCAA Tournament and was ranked throughout the season. The pair, which was seeded No. 17 in the doubles tournament, lost to the American Athletic Conference representatives who were seeded No. 16, 6-4.
Kononova will face off against LIU Brooklyn's Anna Grigoryan on Friday in the consolation singles bracket. Grigoryan is also Russian.
Follow the Mean Green tennis team's social media pages @MeanGreenTennis to get updates on start times and links to live stream and stats.
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