PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. — Three teams advanced to the semifinal round at the conclusion of the first day of competition at the 2021 Sun Belt Men's Tennis Championship.
Georgia Southern claimed the doubles point in Match 1, taking an early 1-0 advantage over the Chanticleers. Alexandros Roumpis and Murphy McCullough picked up a 6-3 win in No. 1 doubles, then Tao Castillo and Pascal Wagemaker clinched the point with a 6-3 win at No. 2 doubles.
The Eagles’ Valentin Dun clinched the match at No. 5 singles with a win over Coastal Carolina’s Daiki Tanabe (6-4, 3-6, 6-4). The Eagles will move on to face top-seeded Georgia State in the semifinals.
In the second match, South Alabama didn’t waste any time securing the doubles point. Loic Cloes and Clement Marzol earned a win at No. 1 doubles, while Julien Evard and Sebastian Collard clinched the point with a 6-2 win at No. 2 doubles. The Jaguars went on to win three-straight contests on the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 4 singles courts to claim the match 4-0.
UTA clinched the doubles point with wins at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles in the thrilling quarterfinal finale. But Troy rallied in singles action, winning matches on the No. 2 and No. 3 singles courts to build a 2-1 advantage. The Mavericks made it 2-2 with a win at No. 5 singles, but the Trojans pulled ahead again with a win at No. 4 singles.
UTA kept fighting, evening the score at 3-3 after a victory on the No. 6 single court.
The match came down to a battle at the top spot as Angel Diaz and Pelayo Antuna left it all on the court. Diaz took a 7-6(6) win in the first set, but Antuna was able to bounce back and win a nail-biter 7-5 in set two. With the match on the line, Antuna pulled through with a 6-2 third-set victory.
Troy will face South Alabama in the semifinals.
2021 SUN BELT MEN’S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP
Results
Match 1 – Georgia Southern 4, Coastal Carolina 3
Doubles
1. Roumpis, Alexandros/McCullough, Murphy (GS) def. Giraldo, Diego/Hyrkkonen, Pyry (CCU) 6-3
2. Castillo, Tao/Wagemaker, Pascal (GS) def. Huon, Bastien/Tanabe, Daiki (CCU) 6-3
3. Castellanos, Juan/Guilherme, Toresan (CCU) def. Morales, Jonathan/Garcia, Carlos (GS) 6-1
Singles
1. Huon, Bastien (CCU) def. Wagemaker, Pascal (GS) 6-3, 6-4
2. McCullough, Murphy (GS) def. Pyry, Hyrkkonen (CCU) 7-5, 6-3
3. Giraldo, Diego (CCU) def. Roumpis, Alexandros (GS) 6-3, 7-5
4. Achondo, Gonzalo (CCU) def. Castillo, Tao (GS) 3-6, 6-1, 7-5
5. Dun, Valentin (GS) def. Tanabe, Daiki (CCU) 6-4, 3-6, 6-4
6. Morales, Jonathan (GS) def. O'Connor, Neil (CCU) 6-2, 3-6, 6-2
Match 2 – South Alabama 4, Louisiana 0
Doubles
1. #49 Cloes, Loic/Marzol, Clement (USA) def. Dworak, Kacper/Keremedchiev, Ivailo (LA) 6-2
2. Evrard, Julien/Collard, Sebastien (USA) def. Fillat Gimenez, Orio/Hammitt, Xandy (LA) 6-2
3. Sanchez Gonzalez, Al/Kajin, Karlo (LA) vs. Delcour, Louis/Pet'ko, Leon (USA) 4-5, unfinished
Singles
1. #89 Evrard, Julien (USA) def. Keremedchiev, Ivailo (LA) 6-2, 6-4
2. #91 Marzol, Clement (USA) def. Hammitt, Xandy (LA) 6-2, 6-2
3. Dworak, Kacper (LA) vs. Cloes, Loic (USA) 2-6, 5-3, unfinished
4. Collard, Sebastien (USA) def. Sanchez Gonzalez, Al (LA) 6-1, 6-1
5. Fillat Gimenez, Orio (LA) vs. Delcour, Louis (USA) 7-6 (3-0), 2-2, unfinished
6. Ferrer Chueca, Alejo (LA) vs. Bugaj, Martin (USA) 7-5, 4-1, unfinished
Match 3 – Troy 4, UTA 3
Doubles
1. Hayen, Alejandro/Sau Franco, Alan (UTA) def. Nicolas Simkin/Tasker, Christopher (TROY) 6-3
2. Beamish, Nick/Caffarena, Solano (UTA) vs. Bernard, Manuel/Antuna, Pelayo (TROY) 5-4, unfinished
3. Cabrera, Miguel/Diaz, Angel (UTA) def. Bedwan, Amer/Anton, Carles (TROY) 6-3
Singles
1. Antuna, Pelayo (TROY) def. Diaz, Angel (UTA) 6-7 (6-7), 7-5, 6-2
2. Anton, Carles (TROY) def. Sau Franco, Alan (UTA) 6-1, 6-4
3. Bedwan, Amer (TROY) def. Cabrera, Miguel (UTA) 6-3, 6-1
4. Llinares, Vito (TROY) def. Hayen, Alejandro (UTA) 7-5, 4-6, 6-3
5. Caffarena, Solano (UTA) def. Nicolas Simkin (TROY) 1-6, 7-5, 6-1
6. Beamish, Nick (UTA) def. Tasker, Christopher (TROY) 7-5, 3-6, 6-2