MALIBU, Calif. – William & Mary women's tennis junior Rosie Cheng turned in a dominant performance in her first match of the year at the 2018 Oracle ITA Masters, upsetting a top-25 opponent on Thursday afternoon. Cheng dropped just four total games in a 6-1, 6-3 straight-sets victory over No. 23-ranked Veronica Miroshnichenko of Loyola Marymount to earn a spot in the round of 16.
 
Cheng, who was ranked No. 97 in the preseason national rankings, raced out of the gates in the opening set by winning the first three games, including a pair of breaks. After Miroshnichenko, who was LMU's first NCAA All-American last season, closed the gap to 3-1, the Tribe junior won the final three games to take the set, 6-1. Cheng was a perfect 4-of-4, breaking Miroshnichenko in all four of her service games.
 
Like the first set, Cheng jumped out to an early lead at 3-1. Miroshnichenko pulled even at three, before the reigning CAA Player of the Year put the match away with three-straight games to claim a 6-3 triumph. It marked the second top-25 victory of Cheng's Tribe career and fifth nationally-ranked win over the last two years.
 
Cheng opened the day playing the 32-team mixed doubles draw with Elon's Felipe Sarrasgue. The pair suffered a 6-1 setback to the tandem of Christian Sigsgaard (Texas) and Erica Oosterhout (Harvard) in the first round.
 
In its fourth year, the Oracle ITA Masters is one of the premier events on the collegiate tennis calendar. The event features a 32-player singles draw for both men and women, and invitations were made to a male student-athlete and a female student-athlete from each NCAA Division I Conference to participate using criteria similar to the NCAA Tournament selection process.

Cheng advances to the round of 16 where she will meet No. 3-ranked Estela Perez-Somarriba of Miami (Fla.) on Friday afternoon. Perez-Somarriba downed Quinnipiac's Dominique Vasile, 6-2, 6-1, in the opening round on Thursday. The singles quarterfinals will also take place later in the day on Friday. Live video streaming with be available via PlaySight at Pepperdine and TempuZ Live Streaming at the Malibu Racquet Club. Live stats for the event are available by clicking HERE.