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Box Score 2 WACO, TEXAS – Both the Men's and Women's Tennis programs got their seasons off to the right start with a victory over the Pirates in a neutral site contest on Saturday.
Southwestern is ranked tenth in all of Division III tennis in men's and women's tennis and provided strong competition for the Patriots.
The Patriots men got their 2022 slate underway with a convincing 7-0 victory. Just one set was dropped by UT Tyler in the entire slate of matches on the day.
In the doubles portion of the matchup, the Patriots swept the Pirates with three victories.
Gonzalo Fernandez Gil and
Joaquin Bianchi won their match 8-5,
Jorge Sala Frigeri and
Safar Rasulov paired up to win 8-6, and
Moritz Mayer and
Leon Sell combined for a dominating 8-2 win. Those contests gave the Patriots a 1-0 lead heading into singles.
In singles, the Patriots continued their dominating form, sweeping the singles matches in convincing fashion. Fernandez Gil was the only player forced into three sets, but came away with the victory after a marathon 12-10 third set. Bianchi dropped just two games as he ran away with a 6-0, 6-2 victory. Rasulov and Mayer combined to lose just eight games between them as they each completed victories for UT Tyler.
After not playing in the doubles portion of the contest,
Egor Shestakov and
Jonas Dixon each won their singles matches with strong form. Shestakov won both sets by a score of 6-3, and Dixon came away with a pair of 6-2 victories.
For the Patriots women, things were a little more dramatic, but they came away with the victory. In doubles,
Delara Zamani and
Leony Deutschmann paired up to win the only doubles match of the contest as they won by a score of 8-2.
The duos of
Brooklyn Ross and
Kanika Sivaraman and
Chloe Chawner and
Chloe Dix both battled hard, but each fell by a score of 8-7. The Ross and Sivaraman duo dropped their tiebreaker 7-4 and the Chawner and Dix pair lost their tiebreaker 7-5. Those doubles results gave the Pirates the 1-0 lead heading into singles play.
Zamani and Deutschmann continued their strong form into singles play as both came away with wins in their respective matches. Zamani won her match in straight sets by scores of 6-1 and 6-3. Deutschmann displayed her dominance as she dropped just three games over two sets, winning 6-2, 6-1.
Brooklyn Ross took the opportunity to bounce back from the doubles loss to come up with a crucial point for the Patriots as she won in straight sets. Her set scores came out to 6-3, 7-5 on the afternoon.
Saravanan and Chawner each battled in their singles matches but unfortunately came up short. Saravanan went down by scores of 6-1, 6-2 and Chawner dropped her sets 6-4, 6-2. With both teams matched up at three points each, the Patriots turned to
Gaini Ibrasheva, who did not participate in doubles.
Ibrasheva dropped the first set by a score of 6-4, but she battled back in the second set by winning 7-6 (7-2) to force a third and final set. With the pressure mounting, she rose to the occasion with a convincing 6-3 victory in the third and final set to complete the victory for the Patriots.
With the wins by both programs, this is the first time that both the Patriots men and women start the season 1-0 since the 2017-2018 campaign. That season saw both programs win the ASC Tournament title and advance into NCAA Regionals.
After the victory for the Patriots women, they will have a quick turnaround as they take on #3 Central Oklahoma tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. That match will be followed by an exhibition contest against UT Arlington on Sunday, Feb. 13.
As for the Patriots men, they will have a week to rest as they will next battle with UT Arlington on Feb. 13 as well. Their contest against the Mavericks will not be an exhibition.
