The FGCU men's tennis team completed the ITA Regional with history as seniors Felipe Escobar and Mateo Ruiz did something this weekend that no other Eagles in program history had done, advancing to the semifinal round of the ITA Southeast Regional Tournament, to lead FGCU in their marquee event of the fall.
"This year at regionals, I believe the team learned a lot about themselves and their game" head coach CJ Weber said. "Although not everybody performed up to their expectations, there were many positives to take away from the tournament. I'm extremely proud of Felipe and Mateo, this is the best result FGCU has ever had at regionals in doubles. I know they are disappointed, as their goal was to win the tournament, but they played some great tennis this weekend and it was a joy to watch them compete. We are now looking forward to this weekend playing on clay at Bonita Bay."
Escobar and Ruiz stole the show in the doubles draw early on, picking up a dominating 8-3 win in their opening match over Croyder/Diaz of the University of Georgia to advance to the second round. In the second round, they ran up against a familiar foe in Deshmukh/Nunez of North Florida and battled the Ospreys' pair to the bitter end before pulling out an 8-7 (3) decision to push on to the quarters.
Thought to be the first FGCU pair to ever advance to the quarterfinal round of the tournament, Escobar and Ruiz weren't satisfied yet, outlasting Kessler/Vale from the University of Florida to solidify their names in the record books as they reached the round of four. Their storybook weekend came to a close Tuesday morning though as they dropped a hard-fought 6-2, 7-6 (3) decision to Florida State's Arcila/Knaff to finish the tournament in 3rd place.
The other Eagles to draw a positive result in the doubles draw were juniors Felipe Ramirez and Feliksas Sakalauskas who picked up a big 8-6 win over Nahrung/Thongoana or Florida State in the first round before dropping a close 8-7 (5) final to Ingildsen/Berdusco of Florida in the second round to end their weekend.
FGCU sent six into the unflighted singles draw. Sakalauskas had the most success for the Green and Blue, winning his first round matchup 7-6 (4), 6-2 over Luis Labarta of FAU and backing that up with a grinding 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 come from behind victory over William Smith of Miami to advance to the round of 16 in the qualifying bracket. Needing one more victory to move onto the main draw, Sakalauskas came up just short, losing his first match of the fall season in a 6-4, 6-1 decision to Diego Padilha of Georgia Southern.
Three other Eagles earned victories on the singles side. Ruiz put up matching 6-3 set victories against Tim Gennes of Stetson while sophomore Juan Montes downed Ignacio Garcia of FAU 6-1, 6-1 and Ramirez traded 6-3 scores to a three set win over Dane Dunlap of Miami.
Overall FGCU earned nine victories at the tournament.
Up Next:
FGCU returns home for their next action when they host the likes of Illinois, Louisville, Memphis, Arkansas, and Kentucky in the Finemark/FGCU Collegiate Open at Bonita Bay Club Friday through Sunday.
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