Duke women’s tennis got strong singles showings from Eleana Yu and Ava Krug at the ITA Carolina Regional, with both players making deep runs at the event held Oct. 15-20 at the Carolina Tennis Center in Columbia.
Yu, from Marion, Ohio, was the Blue Devils’ best performer in the main draw. She rattled off three straight wins to reach the quarterfinals, starting with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Wake Forest’s Heidi Bulger on Friday.
She followed that with a 6-4, 6-4 upset of 21st-ranked Tatum Evans of North Carolina, then handled South Carolina’s Anna Bella Bianca, 6-4, 6-0, in the round of 16. Her run ended in the quarterfinals with a 6-4, 6-4 loss to North Carolina’s Avery Nguyen.
Krug took a different route, but her stay lasted just as long. After opening with a 6-0, 6-3 defeat to North Carolina’s Alanis Hamilton, she surged through the consolation bracket with four wins to reach the finals.
The Tampa, Florida, native beat Queens’ Lucy Hogan, 6-2, 6-0, then topped Davidson’s Bryson Langford, 6-4, 6-0. She moved on when UNC Charlotte’s Andrea Chacon withdrew because of an injury in the quarterfinals, then defeated Furman’s Elle Warren, 6-4, 6-2, before falling to NC State’s Amelie Smejkalova, 6-4, 6-2, in the championship match.
Krug has started the 2026 fall season 11-4 in singles.
Sophomore Claire An also made noise in singles, collecting two wins to get to the round of 16. She advanced past UNC Charlotte’s Karina Mohamed on a 6-2, 3-0 win by retirement in the round of 64, then edged North Carolina’s Ishika Ashar, 6-1, 4-6, 7-5. Her run ended there, as South Carolina’s 23rd-ranked Kaitlyn Carnicella beat her 2-6, 6-4, 6-1.
Duke also saw Liv Hovde and Shavit Kimchi fall in the round of 64. Hovde lost 6-4, 6-4 to UNC Charlotte’s Amalia Widdowson, while Kimchi was defeated 6-2, 6-2 by UNC Charlotte’s Shona Nakano.
In consolation play, Hovde bounced back with a 6-2, 6-2 win over NC State’s Roisin Gilheany, but then lost 4-6, 6-4, 10-5 to Charleston Southern’s Carlota Farres Carreter.
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