SAN ANTONIO – Braving unusually chilled South Texas temperatures in the low-30s, the UTSA tennis team (3-4) went blow-for-blow with fellow American Athletic Conference squad Florida Atlantic (2-6) in non-conference action on Friday at the UTSA Tennis Center. The initial doubles win for the Owls proved decisive, as Florida Atlantic took the 4-3 win on a third-set, court three clinch.
The Owls jumped ahead in doubles scores early with a quick court three win, but the 77th-ranked tandem of Tiago Torres and Miguel Alonso knotted things up on one with a 7-6 (2) victory over John Bernard and Mark Havlicek. Court two also went to 7-6, but Florida Atlantic’s Segundo Goity Zapico and Lucca Pignaton edged out Oskar Grzegorzewski and Ben Chetewy Ungar for the doubles point on an 8-6 tiebreaker.
An impending grinder became quickly obvious as singles action got under way, despite the frigid temperatures, as the teams split victories evenly on first set results. On the top flight, Torres dispatched Bernard quickly to even the match score with a 6-4, 6-0 win to emphasize his new No. 103 ranking, and Chetewy Ungar followed with a UTSA lead on four, defeating Jan Kusy, 6-2, 6-4 – however, the Owls quickly knotted the overall score at 2-2.
After battling back to a 7-6 victory on court two with a 7-5 tiebreak, Danijal Muminovic pushed past Havlicek to grant UTSA its final lead at 3-2 on the 7-6 (5), 6-2 besting. Again, the Owls were quick to answer, tying things up with a 6-4, 7-5 finish on court five – turning all attention to the outcome on court three. While Grzegorzewski evened things up after the opening setback against Goity Zapico, the third-set win wasn’t in the cards as FAU recorded the 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 finish to clinch the set and the match in a 4-3 Owls win – marking two straight for the Roadrunners with a third-set 4-3 finish.
Match Results
Doubles
1. #77 Miguel Alonso/Tiago Torres def. John Bernard and Mark Havlicek (FAU): 7-6 [2]
2. Segundo Goity Zapico/Lucca Pignaton (FAU) def. Oskar Grzegorzewski and Ben Chetewy Ungar: 7-6 [6]
3. Simon Myslivec/Marek Pazdera (FAU) def. Danijal Muminovic and Enzo Vargas: 6-0
Order of finish: 3, 1, 2
Singles
1. #103 Tiago Torres def. John Bernard (FAU): 6-4, 6-0
2. Danijal Muminovic def. Mark Havlicek (FAU): 7-6, (5), 6-2
3. Segundo Goity Zapico (FAU) def. Oskar Grzegorzewski: 6-2, 2-6, 6-3
4. Ben Chetewy Ungar def. Jan Kusy (FAU): 6-2, 6-4
5. Simon Myslivec (FAU) def. Miguel Alonso: 6-4, 7-5
6. Marek Pazdera (FAU) def. Enzo Vargas: 7-6 (1), 6-4
Order of finish: 1, 4, 6, 2, 5, 3
Up Next
The Roadrunners remain at home and have one more non-conference tilt with an AAC foe, as Wichita State comes to San Antonio on Sunday with an 11 a.m. first serve at the UTSA Tennis Center.
- UTSA -