Virginia Downs Mercer, 5-2
Feb. 23, 2018
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia men’s tennis team (6-3) picked up a 5-2 victory over Mercer (7-2) on Friday (February 23) at the Boyd Tinsley Courts at the Boar’s Head Sports Club in Charlottesville, Va.
The Cavaliers won the doubles point and picked up victories on singles courts one through four to close out their nine-match homestand with a victory.
“We’ve got good momentum and some confidence from our last three matches,” said Virginia head coach Andres Pedroso. “They weren’t easy. What I am most proud of is that our practices have really gotten better as time goes on and I feel that everyone is super-engaged in practice. We have made some adjustments as to how we structure practice. We have gotten more individual attention to each guy and work on more specifics. I see it on the court. Guys are starting to find their identity out there and understanding how they need to play.”
The Cavaliers won the doubles point when courts one and three finished within moments of one another, with both courts logging 6-4 scores.
In singles, freshman Matthew Lord (Bloomfield, Conn.) cruised to a 6-0, 6-3 over Nicholas Guillon on court three to put UVA up 2-0. Freshman Gianni Ross (Chicago, Ill.) picked up a break late in his first set of his match on court one against Sam Philp to knot the score at 6-6 and then prevailed 8-6 in the tiebreaker. Ross dominated his second set 6-1 to give the Cavaliers a 3-0 lead. Junior Aswin Lizen (Douglas, Isle of Man) clinched the victory with a 7-5, 6-4 win on court two over Olivier Stuart. After Mercer picked up a point on court five, redshirt freshman Ammar Alhaqbani (Alexandria, Va.) battled to a victory on court four, winning both sets in tiebreakers, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5).
The Cavaliers hit the road next week, playing at No. 32 Louisville in the conference-opener on Friday, March 2 at 4 p.m. before heading to No. 7 Illinois on Sunday, March 4. Virginia returns home on March 16 and 18, hosting Boston College and Notre Dame.
Virginia 5, Mercer 2
Singles competition
1. Gianni Ross (VA) def. Sam Philp (MER-M) 7-6 (8-6), 6-1
2. #18 Aswin Lizen (VA) def. Olivier Stuart (MER-M) 7-5, 6-4
3. Matthew Lord (VA) def. Nicolas Guillon (MER-M) 6-0, 6-3
4. Ammar Alhaqbani (VA) def. Fernando Guardia (MER-M) 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-5)
5. Stathis Tsiranidis (MER-M) def. Kyrylo Tsygura (VA) 2-6, 6-2, 6-4
6. Ruben Vanoppen (MER-M) def. Jefferson Dockter (VA) 6-4, 5-7, 6-3
Doubles competition
1. Aswin Lizen/Gianni Ross (VA) def. Sam Philp/Olivier Stuart (MER-M) 6-4
2. Kyrylo Tsygura/Spencer Bozsik (VA) vs. Ruben Vanoppen/Nicolas Guillon (MER-M) 3-3, unfinished
3. Matthew Lord/Ammar Alhaqbani (VA) def. Carver Arant/Stathis Tsiranidis (MER-M) 6-4
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1); Singles (3,1,2,5,4,6)
T-2:59 A-89