Strong Doubles Play Propels ISU On Day 1 Of Redbird Invite

NORMAL, Ill. – Warm temperatures and sunny skies greeted nine teams Friday morning in Normal, as Illinois State hosted the first day of the Redbird Invite at the Gregory Street Courts. ISU got off to great start, winning all four of its doubles matches in the morning before moving onto singles action.

"I really like how we competed today, especially in doubles where we were getting to the net more, which is something we have been working on," ISU head coach Maja Kovacek said. "It was very challenging day a physically, so what I'm looking for next is for us to continue to push ourselves in singles and play better each day the rest of the weekend."

Doubles matches began the busy first day of action, with the No. 1 doubles team of Tijana Zlatanovic and Maria Potsi defeated the squad from IUPUI by a score of 8-4 to move on in the winner's bracket. Tara Damnjanovic and Penelope Abreu picked up a strong 8-5 victory in Flight No. 2 and the duo of Laura Fitzgerald and Alexandra Abyasova took down their opponents from Saint Louis in Flight No. 3 by a score of 8-4. Rounding out doubles action, Elena Jankulovska paired with Kaya Rand of DePaul to defeat the team from Chicago State, 8-2.

Following doubles play, single action started with Zlatanovic picking up right where she left off in 2021 with a straight-set win in Flight No. 1. Jankulovska also advanced in the winner's bracket in Flight No. 5, defeating Lounsbury from IUPUI in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1. Damnjanovic, Abyasova and Fitzgerald all took their matches to three sets, but suffered setbacks on day one.

Saturday's action will begin at 9 a.m. with another round of doubles, followed by singles play. The invitational will wrap up Sunday with the same schedule, beginning at 9 a.m.

Day 1 Results

Singles
No. 1 -     Tijana Zlatanovic (ISU) def. A. Weise (MU) 6-2, 6-4
No. 2 -     O. Czerwonka (VU) def. Alexandra Abyasova (ISU) 6-0, 4-6, 10-8
No. 3 -     K. Pukhaeva (CSU) def. Tara Damnjanovic (ISU) 6-7(2), 7-6(2), 10-8
No. 5 -     Elena Jankulovska (ISU) def. S. Lounsbury (IUPUI) 6-2, 6-1
No. 6 -     M. Yuan (CU) def. Penelope Abreu (ISU) 6-2, 6-3
No. 7 -     M. Bertino (VU) def. Laura Fitzgerald (ISU) 7-5, 4-6, 12-10

Doubles
No. 1 -     Zlatanovic/Potsi (ISU) def. Grubb/Rivera (IUPUI) 8-4
No. 2 -     Damnjanovic/Abreu (ISU) def. Turconi/Windbulcher (MU) 8-5
No. 3 -     Fitzgerald/Abyasova (ISU) def. Stefan/Barlow (SLU) 8-4
No. 4 -     Rand (DU)/Jankulovska (ISU) def. Dukic/Andres (CSU) 8-2

GoRedbirds.com and the Illinois State Redbirds App:  Your sources for Illinois State tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.