The Smell of Fresh Tennis Balls After the Win

After hearing the sound and smell of fresh tennis in the evening, the FGCU Men's tennis team played a hard fought match against Bethune-Cookman in a 7-0 shutout win for their first official game at home.

The Eagles are now 2-1 going into the season.

On court one were junior Oliver Landert and sophomore Mateo Ruiz going against seniors Greg Almeida and Pablo Lopez.

On court two were sophomore Ezequiel Cerreni and freshman Felipe Ramirez going against sophomore Jose Plazas and Juan Diego Ruiz.

On court three, sophomore Javier Fernandez and senior Pedro Carle faced senior Alvaro Barrera and junior David Ocampo.

Cerreni and Ramirez quickly ousted Plaza and Juan Diego Ruiz 6-1 before Fernandez and Carle secured the second match 6-4 to win the doubles portions. Although Landert and Mateo Ruiz did not have to continue because it was best out of three, they still continued to play for ITF ranking points and won 6-4 in the third doubles match.

Going into the singles matches, a sudden realization came to me: this was the home debuts for both Ramirez and Carle, and I was lucky to see the new freshman and walk-on senior play.

All six matches ended in straight sets. Fernandez finished the first match 6-1, 6-0 against Plazas. 

Mateo Ruiz would follow with a 6-0, 6-2 win against Juan Diego Ruiz.

Cerreni would seal the team win with a 6-1, 6-2 straight set against Ocampo.

Despite winning the series of matches, Landert finished with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Almeida, while Ramirez, who made his season and home opening debut finished with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Barrera. Carle, who also made his singles debut at home finished the shutout with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Lopez.

Senior Andres Alfonzo and redshirt sophomores Austin Bates and Sam Chaffin were in attendance but were inactive to play due to injuries.

Aside from the airhorns and whistles going off from Chi Omega's charity event across the way, the attendance was pretty good, and some of the other FGCU athletes were in attendance including A-Sun Men's Soccer Player of the year, Albert Ruiz, members of the FGCU women's soccer team and Olympic swimmer Evita Leter to help support the tennis team

The Eagles will return to action on Saturday at 6 pm when they face off against FAU.

Below are some photos and a few videos of the doubles and singles matches I took the liberty of taking.

Final Scores from Courts 1-3

Cerreni and Ramirez watch action on court one after their doubles win

Landert and Ruiz setup for the next point

Landert sets to serve in the first set

Carle reacts after earning a point

Fernadez and Carle set for Bethune to serve