SARASOTA, Fla. – No. 4 Southeastern men's tennis opened Sun Conference competition Wednesday afternoon with a 4-2 victory over New College of Florida. The Fire even their overall record at 2-2 while moving to 1-0 in conference play. New College falls to 1-3 overall and 0-1 in the SUN.
Southeastern secured the doubles point with wins on courts one and three to take early control of the match.
Piero Fernandez and
Javier Gallego earned a 6-4 victory at No. 1 doubles over Konstantin Kukaras and Timothy Phung, while
Gonzalo Fernandez and
Pedro De La Riva followed with a 6-2 win at No. 3 doubles against Pedro Lemos and Carlos Quinones. The No. 2 doubles match featuring
Aristeidis Lafazanos and
Leonardo Chiari was tied at 4-4 when play was halted after the doubles point was decided.
In singles competition, the Fire claimed three victories to clinch the team result.
Javier Gallego battled through a three-set match at No. 2 singles, defeating Carlos Quinones 7-5, 2-6, 6-3.
Pedro De La Riva added a strong straight-set performance at No. 3 singles with a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Konstantin Kukaras.
Aristeidis Lafazanos secured the deciding point at No. 6 singles, earning a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 win against Patrick Janikian to seal the conference-opening victory.
New College collected singles wins at No. 1 and No. 5, as Timothy Phung defeated
Piero Fernandez 6-4, 6-3, and Pedro Lemos topped
Leonardo Chiari 6-2, 6-4. The No. 4 singles match between
Gonzalo Fernandez and Hugo Fidler remained unfinished once the team outcome was determined.
Southeastern returns to the court on March 3 for a neutral-site matchup against Davenport at 11:30 a.m. in Altamonte Springs, Florida at Sanlando Park.
