PENSACOLA, Fla. - West Florida men's tennis (16-1, 5-1 GSC) had another undefeated week against three ranked opponents, winning a GSC contest at Lee as well as a road match at North Georgia and a home win over Columbus State.
No. 1 UWF 7, No. 25 Lee 0
In Cleveland, Tenn., on Monday morning, the top-ranked Argos got two of three in doubles to earn the opening point despite the nationally No. 4-ranked pairing of
Diego Duran and
Sebastian Rondon going down.
Tomas Leston and
Sebastian Sotelo won No. 2 and
Miguel Cabrera and
Albin Ekenros one court down each by a 6-3 margin. The lone doubles matchup was the last chance the Flames (6-1, 1-1 GSC) would receive. Cabrera, Rondon, Sotelo, Duran and Leston each finished their contests in two sets by the required two points. The lone outlier was court five where Ekenros pulled away from Stefan Mos 7-6 (7-4), 2-6, 1-0 (10-4).
No. 1 UWF 5, No. 21 North Georgia 2
The next day in Dahlonega, Ga., doubles went the opposite way as Duran and Rondon won 6-4 over Robin Eldin and Juan Cruz Blanco before the Nighthawks (7-3) claimed matchups two and three. Duran finished a 2-0 day and tied the match on court four before Ekenros followed one court down with an almost-identical two-set score. Leston put his team up 3-1 at the bottom of the lineup with a 6-1, 7-6 (7-4) win over Marcos Castellanos. After dropping the first frames, the Argos clinched with three-set wins on court one by Cabrera and court three by Sotelo.
No. 1 UWF 5, No. 33 Columbus State 2
Back in the friendly confines of Ralph "Skeeter" Carson Tennis Complex on Thursday afternoon, the Cougars (6-7) took two of three in doubles, with the exception coming as Leston and Sotelo, in the ITA Doubles Rankings for the first time this season at No. 21, won 6-4 on court two. Sotelo went 2-0 and tied things up by taking all 12 games on court two. Leston put his team ahead with a pair of 6-2 wins before CSU tied it back with a win by Andrea Sandrone over Ekenros.
Alex Maulouet gave his team the permanent lead with a 6-2, 7-5 win at the bottom of the lineup over Yike Liu. Cabrera clinched the match at the other end with a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Camilo Cano. On court three, Duran narrowly took two tiebreakers over Samer Al Tori for the fifth and final point with the 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 7-6 (11-9) line.
The Argos get some time off before their next contest. They host Mississippi College and 2024 GSC Freshman and Player of the Year Alex Benichou Blanchard in a crucial GSC battle on Saturday, March 29, at 10 am. The Choctaws pulled off a season sweep of the regular season champion Argonauts last season.
For complete information on UWF Men's Tennis, follow the team at @TennisUWF on X and @uwf_menstennis on Instagram.
