FORT WORTH — Takeru Watanabe captured the ITA Texas Regional presented by Oracle singles consolation crown to highlight action for the Roadrunners over the weekend.
Watanabe bounced back from a 5-7, 6-0, 6-2 setback to Paul Cook of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the round of 128 of the singles draw with a run through the consolation bracket.
Watanabe opened consolation play with a 7-6, 6-1 triumph over Henrik Munch of Rice and then edged Paul Domanski of Abilene Christian in the quarterfinal round with a 6-4, 5-7, 10-7 decision. The Japan native took care of Domanski's teammate, Bradley Gleason, with a 6-1, 6-4 sweep in the semifinals to earn a spot in the final. There, Watanabe outlasted Logan Powell of Lamar, 3-6, 6-3, 11-9 for the title.
Watanabe also teamed up with Igor Cantanhede for a march to the doubles draw round of 16.
The duo defeated UT Arlington's Pablo Colvee and Sansidh Kommaruju by an 8-6 score in their opening match. The Roadrunners moved on to the final 16 with a narrow 8-7 win against Jonathan and Josh Sheehy of Abilene Christian. The pair was ousted by eventual semifinalist Aleksandre Bakshi and Hady Habib of Texas A&M by an 8-4 decision.
Gabriel Borunda won his first-round singles match, a 6-3, 6-1 sweep of UTRGV's Andres Hernandez, but the freshman fell to Carlos Di Laura of Texas Tech by a slim 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 count in the round of 64. Borunda then fell into the consolation round of 32, where he downed Incarnate Word's Nedim Ahmic, 6-1, 6-0, before falling to Jonathan Sheehy of Abilene Christian, 6-3, 6-2.
Borunda also joined Axel Cronje for a pair of doubles consolation wins. The duo earned a walkover against a Texas A&M-Corpus Christi team due to injury and then blitzed Domanski and Hunter Holman of Abilene Christian, 8-1, before falling to Michael Feucht and Sebastian Santibanez of Lamar, 8-7, in the semifinals.
The tournament concluded the fall season for the Roadrunners. UTSA is scheduled to open the spring dual match campaign on Jan. 12 at Texas.
ITA Texas Regional (UTSA results)
Singles
Round of 128
Paul Cook (A&M-CC) def. Takeru Watanabe (UTSA) 5-7; 6-0; 6-2
Gabriel Borunda (UTSA) def. Andres Hernandez (UTRGV) 6-3; 6-1
Sebastian Mortier (UIW) def. Igor Cantanhede (UTSA) 6-2; 6-3
Juuso Laitinen (Lamar) def. Luis Tirado (UTSA) 6-3; 6-3
Julio Olaya (SMU) def. Axel Cronje (UTSA) 6-2; 6-7; 6-2
Round of 64
Carlos Di Laura (TTU) def. Borunda (UTSA) 3-6; 6-2; 6-4
Singles — Consolation
Round of 32
Borunda (UTSA) def. Nedim Ahmic (UIW) 6-1; 6-0
Round of 16
Jonathan Sheehy (ACU) def. Borunda (UTSA) 6-3; 6-2
Round 2
Cronje (UTSA) def. Hunter Holman (ACU) 6-1, 6-1
Round 3
Sebastian Langdon (ACU) def. Tirado (UTSA) 4-6, 6-1, 11-9
Watanabe (UTSA) def. Henrik Munch (Rice) 7-6, 6-1
Quarterfinal
Logan Powell (Lamar) def. Cronje (UTSA) 3-6, 6-3, 11-9
Watanabe (UTSA) def. Paul Domanski (ACU) 6-4, 5-7, 10-7
Semifinal
Watanabe (UTSA) def. Bradley Gleason (ACU) 6-1, 6-4
Final
Watanabe (UTSA) def. Powell (Lamar) 3-6, 6-3, 1-0 (11-9)
Doubles
Round of 64
Cantanhede/Watanabe (UTSA) def. Pablo Colvee/Sansidh Kommaruju (UTA) 8-6
Round of 32
Daniel Armengol/Mauricio Del Rio Hinojosa (UTA) def. Kevin Lam/Tirado (A&M/UTSA) 8-3
Cantanhede/Watanabe (UTSA) def. (16) Sheehy/Josh Sheehy (ACU) 8-7
(6) Ronit Bisht/Connor Curry (TTU) def. Borunda/Cronje (UTSA) 8-4
Round of 16
(9) Aleksandre Bakshi/Hady Habib (A&M) def. Cantanhede/Watanabe (UTSA) 8-4
Doubles — Consolation
Round 3
Borunda/Cronje (UTSA) def. Kevin Bettendroffer/Cook (A&M-CC) Wo (inj)
Lam/Tirado (A&M/UTSA) def. Ahmic/Zach Vander Heiden (UIW) 8-5
Quarterfinal
Borunda/Cronje (UTSA) def. Domanski/Holman (ACU) 8-1
Jimmy Bendeck/Constantin Frantzen (Baylor) def. Lam/Tirado (A&M/UTSA) 8-2
Semifinal
Michael Feucht/Sebastian Santibanez (Lamar) def. Borunda/Cronje (UTSA) 8-7