STILLWATER, Okla. — Pepperdine women's tennis senior Janice Tjen's straight-set victory over Auburn's DJ Bennett highlighted day one of the NCAA Singles Tournament, held in Stillwater, Okla. on Monday.
In the third NCAA Singles Tournament appearance of her career — and her second as a Wave — #39 Tjen easily handled the #64 Bennett in her 6-3, 6-1 victory. Playing in temperatures above 90 degrees on the court and consistent wind, the match was played on serve until Bennett's double fault in the seventh game helped Tjen take a 4-3 lead. From that point forward, the Pepperdine senior won the next two games to take the first set.
But the second set was all Tjen. She went up a break to begin the second set, then consolidated the break for a 3-0 lead before breaking Bennett on deuce point for a double-break lead. Tjen was in complete control of the match in the second set and eventually took a 5-0 lead, putting pressure on Bennett to hold serve and stay alive. Despite two double-faults in the sixth game, Bennett did hold on deuce point to make the score 5-1, yet that was her final push. Tjen held serve for the match and won on an ace to cap off her 6-3, 6-1 victory.
With the win, Tjen will face either #35 Ellie Schoppe of Florida State or #16 Dasha Vidmanova of Georgia — the player Tjen faced in the Waves' semifinal loss to the Bulldogs last Saturday.
Tjen's win salvaged the day for the Waves, which saw 9-16 seeds Savannah Broadus and Lisa Zaar get knocked out of the tournament prematurely to unseeded opponents.
Earlier that morning, Broadus' run in the singles tournament came to a premature end with a 7-5, 6-4 straight-set loss to #53 Miyuka Kimoto of Syracuse. Despite trailing 4-1 in the second set, the junior from Carrollton, Texas rallied by breaking Kimoto on deuce point in the seventh game followed by a love hold in the eighth game, yet Kimoto held on deuce point and broke Broadus for the match to quash Broadus' comeback hopes.
Broadus' season is not over: She and Tjen are the 1-seed in the NCAA Doubles Tournament, which starts tomorrow. A start time for their opening-round match against California's Mao Mushika and Hannah Viller Moeller has not been determined as of press time.
Zaar also bowed out of the NCAA Tournament with a straight-set loss to #98 Andjela Skrobonja of San Diego State on Monday. Both players led by a break in the first set before Skrobonja broke Zaar on deuce point in the eighth game to put the match back on serve. The San Diego State senior held serve for 5-4 in the next game, but Zaar broke back in the tenth game to extend the first set. However, Skrobonja broke Zaar on deuce point to win the first set 7-5.
In a lopsided second set, Zaar saved two match points and forced deciding point in the seventh game, yet Skrobonja pulled off the upset and held serve for the 7-5, 6-1 win. Skrobonja will face #116 Sofia Johnson of Old Dominion in the second round tomorrow.
RESULTS
Singles Round of 64
#53 Miyuka Kimoto (SYR) def. #12 Savannah Broadus (PEPP) 7-5, 6-4
#98 Andjela Skrobonja (SDSU) def. #15 Lisa Zaar (PEPP) 7-5, 6-1
#39 Janice Tjen (PEPP) def. #64 DJ Bennett (AUB) 6-3, 6-1
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