TEMPE –The strong 32-woman field was cut down to eight in the championship bracket on the first day of the Thunderbird Invitational in Tempe, with two Sun Devils advancing to the round of 16 of the tournament.
"It's been a really good first day," head coach Sheila McInerney said. "There were a lot of good matches and the competition has been fantastic. It's really evenly matched among the 32 women. We've had a lot of three-setters and tough matches."
While the two Devils were eliminated in their second-round matches, the young duo had a strong showing in doubles.
Friday's action opened with the Arizona State pairing of Sasa Klanecek and Savannah Slaysman topping Corse/Spence from Notre Dame 6-3.
Both women carried the momentum from the early session victory into their opening round singles matches.
"I thought our kids came out and played really well in the doubles this morning," McInerney said. "In the first round of singles matches we played really well. Sasa got off to a bit of a slow start. She played kind of nervous with it being her first time playing at home, but I think she handled the second and third sets in the first match very well."
Klanecek took to court one to start the day against Carolin Nonnemacher of San Diego. Although the ASU freshman dropped the first set convincingly 3-6, Klanecek stormed back to claim a 6-1 second set win.
In the third set, Klanecek remained hot, dropping just one game to win 6-1 again and advance to the round of 16.
In the second round, she dropped a three-set battle to Illinois junior Daniela Pedraza Novak, 7-5, 2-6, 2-6. With the defeat, Klanecek moves into the consolation draw where she will face Alessia Dario of Fresno State.
As for the other Sun Devil in this year's Thunderbird Invitational, Slaysman scored her third W of the fall with a 7-5, 6-4 singles win over Jade Hilton of Illinois before falling out of the main draw to NAU's Chiara Tomasetti.
"Savannah played well against a good Illinois player in the first round and quite frankly I thought our second-round matches were a bit disappointing," McInerney said. Sasa wasn't feeling 100 percent in the second match, unfortunately, and her opponent was really good, which made it certainly a tough three-setter.
"Savannah just never could get started. She got down early and made a lot of unforced errors, which is really very uncharacteristic of her, so that's kind of disappointing and I know she's disappointed that she didn't play as well in the second match as she did in the first."
Slaysman will come up against Sasha Belaya of Illinois, who took down the No. 2 seed in the tournament in the first round and was forced to retire in the second round.
Day two of the Thunderbird Invitational gets started at 8:30 a.m. with doubles matches. The Devils will play the Sooner duo of Stripp/Romero who lost 7-6(7) in Friday's doubles round.
UPDATED DRAW
Thunderbird Invitational | Whiteman Tennis Center | Nov. 3, 2017
Doubles
Slaysman/Klanecek (ASU) def. Corse/Spence (ND): 6-3
First Rd.
Sasa Klanecek (ASU) def. Carolin Nonnemacher (USD): 3-6, 6-1, 6-1
Savannah Slaysman (ASU) def. Jade Hilton (Illinois): 7-5, 6-4
Second Rd.
Pedraza (Illinois) def. Klanecek (ASU): 5-7, 6-2, 6-2
Tomasetti (NAU) def. Slaysman (ASU): 6-2, 6-2
"It's been a really good first day," head coach Sheila McInerney said. "There were a lot of good matches and the competition has been fantastic. It's really evenly matched among the 32 women. We've had a lot of three-setters and tough matches."
While the two Devils were eliminated in their second-round matches, the young duo had a strong showing in doubles.
Friday's action opened with the Arizona State pairing of Sasa Klanecek and Savannah Slaysman topping Corse/Spence from Notre Dame 6-3.
Both women carried the momentum from the early session victory into their opening round singles matches.
"I thought our kids came out and played really well in the doubles this morning," McInerney said. "In the first round of singles matches we played really well. Sasa got off to a bit of a slow start. She played kind of nervous with it being her first time playing at home, but I think she handled the second and third sets in the first match very well."
Klanecek took to court one to start the day against Carolin Nonnemacher of San Diego. Although the ASU freshman dropped the first set convincingly 3-6, Klanecek stormed back to claim a 6-1 second set win.
In the third set, Klanecek remained hot, dropping just one game to win 6-1 again and advance to the round of 16.
In the second round, she dropped a three-set battle to Illinois junior Daniela Pedraza Novak, 7-5, 2-6, 2-6. With the defeat, Klanecek moves into the consolation draw where she will face Alessia Dario of Fresno State.
As for the other Sun Devil in this year's Thunderbird Invitational, Slaysman scored her third W of the fall with a 7-5, 6-4 singles win over Jade Hilton of Illinois before falling out of the main draw to NAU's Chiara Tomasetti.
"Savannah played well against a good Illinois player in the first round and quite frankly I thought our second-round matches were a bit disappointing," McInerney said. Sasa wasn't feeling 100 percent in the second match, unfortunately, and her opponent was really good, which made it certainly a tough three-setter.
"Savannah just never could get started. She got down early and made a lot of unforced errors, which is really very uncharacteristic of her, so that's kind of disappointing and I know she's disappointed that she didn't play as well in the second match as she did in the first."
Slaysman will come up against Sasha Belaya of Illinois, who took down the No. 2 seed in the tournament in the first round and was forced to retire in the second round.
Day two of the Thunderbird Invitational gets started at 8:30 a.m. with doubles matches. The Devils will play the Sooner duo of Stripp/Romero who lost 7-6(7) in Friday's doubles round.
UPDATED DRAW
Thunderbird Invitational | Whiteman Tennis Center | Nov. 3, 2017
Doubles
Slaysman/Klanecek (ASU) def. Corse/Spence (ND): 6-3
First Rd.
Sasa Klanecek (ASU) def. Carolin Nonnemacher (USD): 3-6, 6-1, 6-1
Savannah Slaysman (ASU) def. Jade Hilton (Illinois): 7-5, 6-4
Second Rd.
Pedraza (Illinois) def. Klanecek (ASU): 5-7, 6-2, 6-2
Tomasetti (NAU) def. Slaysman (ASU): 6-2, 6-2