ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) – Maria Martinez and Ksenia Kuznetsova look to make more history for the women's tennis program, as they begin the NCAA Doubles Championships Thursday at the Wake Forest Tennis Complex in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
"I'm proud of Maria and Ksenia to be able to represent UCF and our conference in the NCAA Tournament," said Bryan Koniecko, UCF head coach. "They have played great doubles all year and I know they will enjoy this experience. I believe they are playing well enough to beat anyone and they will be working to bring home a title."
Martinez and Kuznetsova were the automatic qualifier from the American Athletic Conference and will take on Nina Khmelnitckaia and Anastasia Rychagova of Kansas in the opening round. Women's and men's doubles play will begin at 9 a.m. Thursday, with specific match times being set once opening round singles action finishes Wednesday.
Martinez and Kuznetsova, who currently sit at No. 61 in the Oracle/ITA Division I rankings, reached a season high of No. 47 in the national rankings on April 17
The duo led the Black and Gold with a 17-3 record together, playing all but one match at the No. 1 position and currently ride a nine match winning streak. They won both matches in the team portion of the NCAA Championships versus ranked duos from FIU and Miami to add to their resume.
The pair earned three other wins over ranked opponents this season – a dominant 6-1 win over No. 14 Maryna Veksler and Ulyana Grib of FIU, a 6-3 win over No. 31 Wendy Zhang and Lindsey Hodge of Rice, a 6-3 victory over No. 64 Fatima Bizhukova and Mara Bellucco of Wichita St.
Khmelnitckaia and Rychagova currently sit at No. 20 in the doubles rankings. They are 15-4 playing together this season and are currently on a six match winning streak.
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