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No. 1 doubles knocks off undefeated FSU pair

After losing their respective singles matches, Marie France Lord Andrade and Gabriella Duch defeated an undefeated duo from Florida State University on its home court Sunday in the Lady Seminole Tournament.

Seventeen-time Grand Slam doubles champion Gigi Fernandez coached the pair to victory in Tallahassee but was reluctant to take credit for the win.

“Coaching college tennis is different from coaching anywhere else,” Fernandez said. “You can teach the tactics involved in playing doubles, and you can tell them where to serve the ball, but (the players) have to control and execute the shots. Marie and Gabby did just that.”

Duch and Andrade won 8-4 in the doubles “A” draw championship against FSU pair Daniela Gheorghe and Amberly Tantee.

Both members of the winning doubles team competed well in singles but fell short of the finals. Duch lost to Houston’s Biljana Dimovska in the semifinals of the singles “A” draw while Andrade dropped her semifinal match to Jacksonville’s Emese Sulyos.

Fernandez was upset with the officiating in Duch’s singles loss, saying there were “a lot of questionable calls.”

“It’s tough when the match is not lost on the courts,” Fernandez said.

In other action, sophomore Fabiana Taverna ended the tournament on a good note beating Alina Mihailescu of FSU 6-3, 6-2 to win the singles “A” second round consolation draw.