Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 CLEVELAND, TENNESSEE – Both UT Tyler tennis programs battled a ranked opponent in Lee on Thursday to round out their spring break trip and the #8 Patriots men took a win over the #7 Flames and the Patriots women fought tough against the #37 Flames.
It took the #8 ranked Patriots men just 31 minutes to round up the doubles point, as
Gonzalo Fernandez Gil and
Egor Shestakov set the tone for the entire day with a 6-1 win in just 28 minutes.
Jonas Dixon and Jordi Portell Garcia followed just three minutes later with a 6-3 win, and the Patriots had the two matches necessary for the doubles point and a 1-0 lead.
In singles,
Joaquin Bianchi got things started in the Patriots direction as he came away with a 6-3, 6-3 straight sets win in the number one slot to move the score to 2-0 in favor of UT Tyler.
Over in the #3 slot, Shestakov jumped into a three set thriller after taking the first set 6-2 and then dropping the second set by a score of 6-4. In the third set, Shestakov battled tightly with his opponent, but after two hours and 27 minutes, he would emerge with a 7-5 win to claim the third point.
That left the match in the hands of Fernandez Gil in the #2 slot, and he embarked on his own marathon after splitting the first two sets at scores of 6-3, 3-6. In the third set, the two players would play to a 6-6 tie and force a tiebreaker. In that tiebreaker, it was Fernandez Gil who would emerge victorious, securing a 7-4 win and the final point necessary for a Patriots victory.
On the women's side of the match, the Patriots moved quickly in doubles to earn their first win, as
Tanvikhaa Saravanan and
Kanika Sivaraman combined for a 6-1 win.
In the #2 doubles slot,
Brooklyn Ross and
Violetta Khisamova battled tightly, but came up on the wrong side of a 6-3 decision. That left the doubles point in the hands of match #1, and
Allison Schwartz and
Akshaya Suresh battled all the way to a 6-6 tie and a tiebreaker. In that tiebreaker however, the Flames came away with a 7-3 win and a 1-0 lead heading into singles.
Unfortunately, Ross would have to retire from her match after just 24 minutes to allow the Flames to build a 2-0 lead.
In the #3 slot, Khisamova got the Patriots on the board with their first point. She came away with a 7-2 tiebreaker win in set one, before delivering a huge 6-1 win in set two.
In the #5 slot, Suresh battled closely herself, but a 6-4, 7-5 win for the Flames gave them a 3-1 lead and match point.
In the #4 slot, Schwartz got into a marathon battle of her own as she claimed set one by a score of 7-5 before narrowly falling 7-3 in a tiebreaker in set two. That set up a third set that could potentially decide the match, but she held off the Flames for a few minutes longer with a 6-4 win.
In the #2 slot, Saravanan looked to keep the Flames at bay to force a final match, and battled her way to a split through the first two sets at 4-6, 6-4. The third and final set would go the Flames way however, and they claimed a 4-2 win.
The Patriots will now get a few days rest before hosting St. Mary's on their home courts on March 24
th. That match is scheduled for a 10 a.m. first serve at Summers Tennis Center.
