Sutjiadi Advances in Singles, Doubles Pairing Falls Short in ITA All-American Championships

PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. – Kentucky women’s tennis players Aldila Sutjiadi and Mami Adachi completed their first day of competition at the ITA All-American Championships in Pacific Palisades, California, Thursday night. Sutjiadi ousted Georgia’s Kennedy Shaffer in singles in three sets, but the top-ranked doubles pairing of Sutjiadi and Adachi fell just short, ultimately losing 8-7 (1).

Sutjiadi, the No. 23 preseason ranked singles player, was able to pull off a top-15 win in the first big tournament of the year downing No. 14 Shaffer. Sutjiadi got off to a strong start, winning the first set 6-3, but dropped the second 5-7. Sutjiadi battled back, ultimately winning the final set 6-4.

Shortly after securing her spot in the singles round of 16, Sutjiadi and partner Adachi returned to the court to take on Pepperdine’s Mayar Sherif Ahmed and Christine Maddox in a second-round doubles match. After the UK tandem took a quick 6-2 lead, the Pepperdine pair began chipping away at the deficit to force the match into extra games. The Wildcats were bounced in an 8-7 (1) decision. 

Sutjiadi will return to play on Friday, facing off against Oklahoma State’s Viktoriya Lushkova. The match-up is scheduled to start at 1:45 p.m. ET.

For the latest on the Kentucky women’s tennis program, follow @UKWomensTennis on Twitter, on Facebook at Facebook.com/UKWomensTennis, and on the web at UKathletics.com.