LUBBOCK, TEXAS – UT Tyler men's tennis picked up several key wins in both singles and doubles over the week in Lubbock, but ultimately fell just shy of automatic qualification into the ITA Cup.
THURSDAY
Action began with singles at 8:30 as
Jordi Garcia Portell led off the winning ways. He put together a dramatic 7-6 first set win that included a tight 7-5 tiebreaker to move himself out in front. That big first set win gave him all the momentum, and he rolled to a 6-0 win to move into the round of 32.
Joining Garcia Portell in the early wave was #16 seed
Daniil Felker, and he too picked up a straight sets win by scores of 6-1 and 6-3.
Carel Wessel kept the winning ways going for the Patriots, as he also won in straight sets by scores of 6-4, 6-4 to punch his ticket forward.
At 9:30, #4 seeded
Egor Shestakov took to the court for the first time, and he picked up a dominant straight sets win by scores of 6-2, 6-3 to advance into the next round.
Yudai Watanabe was the final Patriot to pick up a big first round win, as he put together a straight sets win of 7-5, 6-4 to move himself to the round of 32 to make it five different Patriots moving on.
In the round of 32, Garcia Portell would continue his flair for the dramatics, as he found himself in a third set tiebreaker to advance to the round of 16. After splitting the first two sets at 6-4, 2-6, Garcia Portell came up with a big 10-8 tiebreaker win to move on.
#4 seed Shestakov looked dominant yet again, as he delivered a 6-2, 6-2 win to move on to Friday's action. Felker joined Garcia Portell in the dramatic win category, as he picked up a 10-5 tiebreaker win in the third set to make it three Patriots into Friday.
Wessel and Watanabe would each battle tightly in their matches, but Wessel found himself on the wrong side of an 18-16 marathon tiebreaker to fall just shy of moving into the Round of 16. For Watanabe, he matched up with the #12 seed, but fell in straight sets to bow out of the draw.
After a strong showing in singles, the Patriots got off to an even stronger showing in doubles as all four Patriots pairs won their opening round match.
Amir Sanaei and
Ryohei Miyake delivered an 8-3 win, #6 seed
Carel Wessel and
Jordi Garcia Portell won 8-3, #3 seed
Egor Shestakov and
Daniil Felker won 8-2, and the pair of
Yudai Watanabe and
Mohamed Forkane Lebdi delivered an 8-5 win to each punch their tickets to the round of 16.
In the round of 16, the pair of Wessel and Garcia Portell would advance with an 8-4 victory to move into Friday, and Shestakov and Felker rolled with a dominant 8-2 win to ensure two Patriots pairs making it to day two.
Sanaei and Miyake would meet the #7 seed, but fall by a score of 8-2 to see their tournament come to a close. For Watanabe and Lebdi, they matched up with the #5 seed, but ultimately fell by a score of 8-4.
FRIDAY
Friday's action again kicked off at 8:30 with singles play, and Garcia Portell matched up with Pablo Segura of Lubbock Christian. Garcia Portell took a brilliant lead with a 6-2 win, but fell 5-7 in set two. That set up a tiebreaking set three, but Segura held the advantage with a 6-3 win to move on.
#4 seed Shestakov matched up with Tristan Vigneron Scattarregia of Lubbock Christian. Vigneron Scattarregia got out to the early advantage with a 6-4 win, and held off a late charge from Shestakov to claim a straight sets win and knock out Shestakov from the draw.
That left Felker as the final Patriot in the singles draw, and he matched up with #13 seed Luis Diaz Argente of Midwestern State. The two were tightly matched through two sets, as each player won a set 6-4. That led to the third set, and Diaz Argente would outlast Felker by a score of 6-2 to move himself into the quarterfinals.
Wessel and Garcia Portell got the action going in Friday doubles at 2 p.m., matching up with Vitaliy Horovoy and Lucas Nitzschke of UT Permian Basin. The two sides would battle it out in a tight match, but the Falcons pair would ultimately take the match at a score of 9-7.
That left the Patriots hopes in the hands of Shestakov and Felker, and they continued their run in doubles with an 8-6 win over the St. Mary's pair of Jake Faryniarz and Nicolas Llosa.
That big win pushed the duo into the semifinals, as they matched up with #2 seed Stephen Slocombe and Luis Diaz Argente of Midwestern State. Shestakov and Felker took a big first set win at 6-3, but Slocombe and Diaz Argente battled back with a 7-6 in that included a tiebreaker win of 7-3. That forced a decisive third set tiebreaker, and the Mustangs duo would ultimately take that by a score of 10-4 to knock out the Patriots officially from the draw.
Egor Shestakov and
Daniil Felker will officially be under consideration for an at-large due to making it all the way to the semifinal round.
