UNC women’s tennis drops match to Duke

North Carolina junior Shinann Featherston said she had never cramped up during a match before. But as the old saying goes, there is a first time for everything.

With No. 3 UNC tied at 3 with arch-rivals Duke, Featherston was the Tar Heels’ last hope as she battled with Duke’s Reka Zsilinszka in the decisive third set.

Then it happened.

“My quad cramped up. It started in my calves in both legs,” said Featherston. “At 4-3, my whole right leg just cramped.”

After Zsilinszka made it 4-3 in the third set, Featherston was forced to ask the line judge for an injury timeout. Once play resumed, the junior’s pain was noticeable.

Zsilinszka held on to win the next two games, clinching a 4-3 match win for the No. 4 Blue Devils and handing UNC (18-4, 7-1 ACC) its first conference loss of the season.

After the conclusion of the match, UNC coach Brian Kalbas huddled up his players.

“My speech to them was more of I’m really proud of them, the effort, the attitude,” Kalbas said. “Give Duke credit, they really played well and especially at the end of those matches, they made us work for everything.”

The Tar Heels got off to a slow start, losing the doubles point for only the second time in the last 12 matches.

UNC gained the lead after Zoe De Bruycker and Tessa Lyons each won their singles match.

Lauren McHale and Gina Suarez-Malaguti then gave the lead back to Duke by dropping their matches.

Trailing 3-2, senior Jelena Durisic simply refused to let her team down.

“I just didn’t want to lose, to be honest with you,” Durisic said. “I knew if I kept on fighting and kind of putting pressure on her forehand, she was going to break down.”

After dropping her first set against Ellah Nze, Durisic went to work, tiring out her opponent and taking advantage of Nze’s weak forehand.

“She prefers her backhand a lot more,” Durisic said. “I took a break after the first set and just re-focused. I decided to play a little bit smarter, fight a little bit harder … she’s known to struggle in three sets.”

Meanwhile, Featherston was beginning to tire against Zsilinszka, who employed a strategy of patience, waiting on Featherston to make the mistakes.

“(Zsilinszka) makes very few unforced errors,” Kalbas said. “It forces you to hit a lot of balls that are out of your strike zone, and have to work your legs, and I think it kind of took a toll on Shinann at the end of the match.”

Featherston knew her opponent was going to try to wear her out, but felt that overall she performed well.

“I could’ve made the second set closer and pulled it out then … I played a little stupidly,” she said.

Featherston’s frustration about her cramps at a crucial time in the match was evident.

“It’s never happened before, so it would happen on a stage like this,” Featherston said.

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@dailytarheel.com.