TYLER, TEXAS – The Patriots men's tennis program will look to get off to a 2-0 start for the first time since the 2015-2016 season on Sunday as they take on UT Arlington.
In that 2015-2016 season, the Patriots finished with a record of 18-10-5 and went on to make the NCAA Regional Tournament after winning the ASC Tournament.
#18 UT Tyler began their season on Feb. 5 with a 7-0 victory over Southwestern in a neutral site contest in Waco, Texas. It was total domination from the Patriots as they dropped just one set as a team on the day.
The doubles combinations of
Joaquin Bianchi /
Gonzalo Fernandez Gil,
Leon Sell /
Moritz Mayer, and
Jorge Sala Frigeri /
Safar Rasulov set the pace by sweeping the doubles portion of the match and taking a 1-0 lead to singles. That domination continued with singles victories for Bianchi, Fernandez Gil, Mayer, Rasulov,
Egor Shestakov, and
Jonas Dixon.
THE SCOUTING REPORT
UT Arlington has played in five dual matches this season and hold a record of 3-2 overall. The Mavericks have wins over a pair of LSC opponents in Dallas Baptist and UT Permian Basin. Both of those matches were 7-0 victories for UT Arlington.
The Mavericks have four players who hold a 3-1 duals record in singles matches and the pair of Maks Lukman and Alan Sau Franco leads their doubles pairs with a record of 3-1. The duo of Lukman and Sau Franco have won their duals matches by scores of 6-2, 6-0, and 7-5.
Diego Benitez is the head coach for UT Arlington and has been their coach since 2006. Benitez has led the Mavericks to regional appearances in 2006, 2009, 2011, and 2016. Most recently, Benitez led the UT Arlington women's program to a Sun Belt Conference championship in 2021.
WHAT'S ON TAP
Following the Sunday contest against the Mavericks, the #18 Patriots men and the Patriots women will take on Harding on Feb. 18 and then follow that match with a contest on Feb. 19 against Southeastern Oklahoma State. Harding is receiving votes in both the men's and women's national poll and that contest will begin at 10 a.m. The match against Southeastern Oklahoma State is set to begin at 2 p.m.
