| Junior Jorge Delgado won both his matches on Saturday. |
FORT WORTH ? The UTSA men’s tennis team fell just short of upsetting No. 43 TCU, losing 4-3 at the Bayard H. Freeman Tennis Center on Saturday.
The Roadrunners (4-8) got off to another fast start, winning two out of the three doubles matches to secure an early 1-0 lead.
Sophomore Max Stratmann and freshman Pedro Zanotelli fell to 26th-ranked Kriegler Brink and Slah Mbarek, 8-3, at No. 2. The Roadrunners then tied things up at the No. 3 slot when junior Jorge Delgado and sophomore Daniel Moreiras defeated Zach Nichols and Jack Seider, 8-5. The point came down to the decisive No. 1 contest between junior Rodrigo Morgado and senior Andre Moreira and No. 14 Emanuel Brighiu and Adrian Simon. It took a tiebreak to decide the match and the Roadrunners outlasted the Horned Frogs duo, 9-8 (8-6).
It didn’t take long for TCU (5-7) to get on the board in singles action, as Brink took the first set of his No. 2 contest with Moreira, 6-0, before Moreira retired from the match. Powers was too strong for Stratmann to handle, defeating him 6-1, 6-1 in their No. 5 matchup. That gave the Horned Frogs their first lead of the match at 2-1.
Zanotelli took the first set of his No. 3 contest with Nichols, 6-4, but Nichols rallied in the last two sets, 6-2, 6-4, to take the match. Mbarek then clinched the TCU victory with his three-set win against Morgado at No. 1, 6-4, 3-6, 6-0.
Moreiras and Delgado both grinded out tough three-setters at Nos. 4 and 6, respectively, but it was too little, too late. Delgado appeared to be cruising through his match, winning the first set 6-1, but Mabatah fought back to take the second set 7-5. He was able to hold on for the 6-4 win in the third set.
Moreiras, meanwhile, lost the first set to Simon in a tiebreak 7-6 (7-3), but he then rallied to win the last two, 6-4, 6-2.
“I am extremely happy with our effort out there today,” head coach Dr.Oliver Trittenwein said. “We came outwith the focus and determination we needed to against a really tough opponent and were able to compete with these guystoday. I am just so excited about what I saw on the court today.
UTSA will wrap up their three-game road trip next Saturday, March 14, at Texas-Pan American.