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Zeynep Erman came into her matchup with Alexa Noel unranked in the No. 1 singles match. Noel is currently ranked No. 8 on the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Top 125 Singles, and Erman was nursing a back injury heading into the match. To begin the day, Erman had lost badly in doubles and Noel looked poised for a comfortable win.

But as the match began, Erman immediately jumped out to a lead, winning the first two games and starting to put pressure on Noel.

Tensions were extremely high early on, as both players showed visible frustration toward the official. On one play early on, Erman called a ball out and the official agreed. Noel disagreed and replied, “You’re only giving her calls because she’s complaining.” Noel continued to be visibly upset throughout the match, slamming her racket on the ground after each of the two sets.

In the second set, Miami head coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews accused Erman of using a ball from a different match — an illegal act. This caused a brief delay as the official stepped down from the high chair to inspect the balls. In the end, no penalty was issued and play continued.

The match was razor close with a total of 11 games reaching a deuce. Yet, it was Erman who got the better of Noel, keeping her cool in the clutch moments, as she won eight of those 11 points.

Erman did a great job of staying centered while keeping her opponent moving from side to side. Late in the second and final set, Erman kept forcing Noel to change direction, even making her fall down as she slid in an attempt to send the ball back over the net.

SU head coach Younes Limam stood right next to Erman throughout the match, showing a lot of emotion and support toward his player.

“I think she’s going to take a lot of confidence from today, we all knew she had a big game. She has a huge forehand and serve and when she commits to those two things very well, the sky is the limit for her,” Limam said.

Erman has overcome a lot of adversity this season, battling injuries and coming back from slow starts. However, she came out of the gate very fast against Noel, jumping out to dominant leads, allowing her to dictate most of the rallies.

Yet, there were times when Erman didn’t look in control. The first came when Noel made a big comeback in the first set, from being down 2-0 to taking the lead 4-3. Just when things looked terrible for Erman, she rallied off eight straight wins, taking the first set 6-4 and a massive 5-0 lead in the second set.

The second moment came when Noel started to cut into the deficit, winning three consecutive games, making it 5-3. But it was too little, too late for Noel as she lost the next set on a penalty.

On another occasion, Noel argued an out-of-bounds call to the official. In response, a point was deducted from her total, given that it was her second overrule of the match. Since the score was 40-40, the penalty awarded the final points for Erman to win the match 2-0 (6-4, 6-3).

In a tightly-contested match, Erman showed that she belonged in the No. 1 singles spot for Syracuse. She picked up her first No. 1 singles win of the season, as she had dropped the previous three matches at that spot.

Erman’s victory was critical in No. 53 Syracuse’s (9-0, 3-0 Atlantic Coast) upset of No. 23 Miami (5-2, 1-1 ACC). Erman’s performance inspired the remaining Syracuse players to win two out of three remaining singles matches.

Published on February 26, 2023 at 5:47 pm