Shukla and Negin Advance To Singles Round of 32 To Highlight Day Two of ITA Central Regional

LAWRENCE, Kan. -- Senior Malvika Shukla and junior Valerie Negin advanced to the Singles Main Draw Round of 32 with a trio of victories on Friday during day two of the ITA Central Regional hosted by the University of Kansas.

"We played some great doubles at times today and just barely came up short in two of the matches," said head coach Tom Lilly. "Ana dug deep and beat a Kansas player on their home court in a marathon match. Valerie and Malvika are playing some great tennis and are going to need more of that tomorrow as the level of play will be high. It's great to see us competing and advancing in this elite tournament."

After earning a first-round bye, Shukla rolled to a 7-6 (7-1), 6-3 straight sets win over Southeast Missouri State's Cosima Trinity Calinescu to advance to the round of 32. With her doubles and singles wins today, Shukla now sits at 99 career victories.

Negin, meanwhile, cruised to a 6-3, 6-1 win over Tulsa's Sofiia Zhylchuk in the round of 128 before besting Nebraska's top singles player, Ana Carmen Zamburek, 6-2, 7-5 to move on to tomorrow's round of 32.

Sophomore Ana Paula Martinez battled Kansas' Joselyn Massey to a three-set win. The Mexico native opened the match with a 7-6 (7-5) set win, but dropped set two, 6-0. Martinez regrouped and advanced to the round of 64 with a thrilling 7-6 (7-5) clincher. Martinez's luck however would run out, falling to Iowa State's Anna Supapitch Kuearum.

In doubles play, Negin and Shukla teamed up for an 8-5 victory over Wichita State's Kristina Kudryavtseva and Giorgia Roselli but fell to Missouri's Christine Canete and Mae Canete, 8-7 (7-5) in the doubles round of 32.

Shukla and Negin will continue their run at the ITA Regional tomorrow morning at the Jayhawk Tennis Center in Lawrence, Kansas.

Doubles – Main Draws Round of 64
Valerie Negin/Malvika Shukla def. Kristina Kudryavtseva/Giorgia Roselli (WSU), 8-5
Sofia Pinto/Mia Liepert (Minn.) def. Ana Paula Martinez/Annika Elvestrom, 8-7 (7-0)

Doubles – Main Draws Round of 32
Christine Canete/ Mae Canete (Mizz) def. Valerie Negin/Malvika Shukla, 8-7 (7-5)

Singles – Main Draw Round of 128
Ana Paula Martinez def. Joselyn Massey (KU), 7-6 (7-5), 0-6, 7-6 (7-5)
Valerie Negin def. Sofiia Zhylchuk (Tulsa), 6-3, 6-1

Singles – Main Draw Round of 64
Malvika Shukla def. Cosima Trinity Calinescu (SMSU), 7-6 (7-1), 6-3
Anna Supapitch Kuearum (ISU) def. Ana Paula Martinez, 6-2, 6-2
Valerie Negin def. Ana Carmen Zamburek (NU), 6-2, 7-5

Shukla and Negin Advance To Singles Round of 32 To Highlight Day Two of ITA Central Regional

Players Mentioned

Annika Elvestrom

Ana Paula Martinez

Valerie Negin

Malvika Shukla

Related Videos