Rondon and Duran vs Montevallo 2-8-25
© Jon Rose
4
Winner West Florida UWFM (1-0)
2
Flagler FLG-M (1-0)
Winner
West Florida UWFM
(1-0)
4
Final
2
Flagler FLG-M
(1-0)
4
Winner West Florida UWF (2-0)
3
Barry BARRY-M (4-0)
Winner
West Florida UWF
(2-0)
4
Final
3
Barry BARRY-M
(4-0)

Match Recap: Men's Tennis | | Joel Sellers

UWF Defeats National Powerhouses, Advances to ITA Championship

Argos Take on Washburn in the Championship Match on Sunday Afternoon

INDIANAPOLIS - No. 7-seed UWF men's tennis (3-0, 1-0 GSC) reached rarefied air in its fourth appearance in the ITA DII National Men's Team Indoor Championship, defeating the defending national runner-up and No. 2-seed Flagler (1-1) in the nightcap of the quarterfinals on Friday 4-2 before taking down No. 3-seed, defending South Region runner-up and seven-time national champion Barry (4-1) 4-3 in the second semifinals match on Saturday night. For the first time in program history, UWF will play in the ITA Indoor Championship match tomorrow afternoon at 2:30 pm ET/1:30 pm CT.
 
UWF 4, Flagler 2
The Argos were assigned a tough matchup in the quarterfinals, taking on Flagler, who made it to the NCAA national championship match last season before falling to GSC rival Valdosta State. In the program's first-ever matchup with the Saints from St. Augustine, Fla., things looked bleak as UWF dropped the doubles point and the first singles matchup. Aniss Rafiq and Simon Malis came out on top on court one over Diego Duran and Sebastian Rondon, 6-4, before Ilian Borlee and Baptiste Mercier followed suit on court two 6-3 over Miguel Cabrera and Denilso Martinez to go up 1-0. Mercier then put his team up by two, handing Rondon his second loss of the day on court two 6-4, 7-5.
 
At that point, the Argos put together one of the best comebacks in recent history. Sebastian Sotelo came from behind in the second set to narrowly sweep Malis 7-6 (7-4), 7-5 on court three. In the No. 5 matchup, Albin Ekenros came out on top over Filip Kana 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 to tie the match. Shortly after, one court down, Tomas Leston took his matchup 7-5, 6-2 against Makary Adamek to give his team the lead for good. With that, it came down to courts one and four, and Duran sealed the come-from-behind win at No. 4 by staging a comeback of his own after trailing 3-0 in the opening set to knock off Borlee 6-3, 2-6, 6-4. 
 
UWF 4, Barry 3
It was the same song, second verse for UWF in the semifinals as one of the dynasties of DII men's tennis took a 2-0 lead via the doubles point and a two-set singles win on court three. In the doubles contest, Gabriele Felline and Tim Riedel won 6-2 on the middle court against Cabrera and Martinez. Sotelo and Leston temporarily staved off the Bucs with a 6-3 win at the bottom of the lineup over Thomas Machado and Riccardo Trione. Barry sealed the opening point though, as Leo Caill and Yan Kodjoed took down Duran and Rondon 6-4. Kodjoed then swept his day with a pair of 6-2 set wins over Sotelo. 
 
Once again, the Argos came storming back, this time starting with a 6-4, 6-3 win by Ekenros over Machado on court five. At the top of the singles lineup, Cabrera took down Trione 6-0, 1-6, 6-3 to tie the match. On court four, Duran came back from a 2-6 first set loss to Riedel before taking sets two and three 7-6 (7-5) and 6-2. Barry wasn't going away, as Caill won on court six 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 over Leston to tie the match with the all-important No. 2 matchup still to be decided. Here, Rondon took the first frame 6-3 over Felline and dropped the second 5-7. In the clinching set, Felline took leads of 3-0, 4-2 and 5-4, but Rondon took the last three points to seal the Argos' spot in the title match. 
 
This year's event features a No. 7 versus No. 8 title match. 8-seed Washburn, victors over No. 1 Saint Leo in the quarterfinals and No. 5 Rollins in the semis, is the last team standing in the way of UWF taking its first ITA title, as the programs meet for the first time in their history. 
 
For complete information on UWF Men's Tennis, follow the team at @TennisUWF on X and @uwf_menstennis on Instagram.
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