Nov. 11, 2011
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami men’s tennis team will be split up and travel to two different tournaments this weekend. Three members of the team will travel to the Clay Court Invitational and two others will travel to the Ravenswood Winery Amelia Island Futures Championships.
“Our guys are excited to play in clay court tournaments in Amelia Island and Sarasota to close out the fall,” said head coach Mario Rincon. “Everyone has made great progress in the last couple of months, and they will have a chance to measure up against great competition in both tournaments.”
Sophomores Diego Soto and Gabriel Flores will travel to the Ravenswood Winery Amelia Island Futures Championships at the Omni Amelia Island Plantation in Amelia Island, Fla. Soto will enter after winning his last two matches at the UCF Invitational. Flores had a record of 2-1 in singles play at that tournament. The pair was 1-1 in doubles play.
“The Amelia Island event is an ITF Futures event, so it’s a professional event. There is a lot of tough competition there, and it is also on clay,” said assistant coach Mark Dickson. “Gabriel and Diego are excellent clay court players so this is going to be a fantastic opportunity for them to compete against some of the toughest competition at that level and to really showcase what they’ve been working on. They have been making terrific strides and we’re looking forward to seeing them have a good weekend.”
The tournament will have 116 players and play will begin on Fri. Nov. 11. Gabriel Flores will play against Benjamin Adrian at 9 a.m. Diego Soto will play against Austin Smith after 11 a.m.
Santiago Nieto, Omar Aly, and Victor Mauz will participate in the Clay Court Invitational in Lakewood Ranch, Fla. The tournament will be a three-day tournament from Fri. Nov. 11 through Sun, Nov. 13 hosted by the Lakewood Ranch Golf and Country Club.
“The competition at the Lakewood Ranch event is going to be one of the toughest in the United States. A lot of the top teams from around the United States are coming to compete. Each team is bringing four players so it is going to be a very tough draw,” continued Dickson. “This is the only clay court event in the United States for college teams and it is renowned as one of the finest events that we’ll compete in all year. We’re excited and the guys are excited. They have been competing very hard and they are looking forward to the event.”
Sophomore Omar Aly and freshman Victor Mauz were successful in their last tournament at the UCF Invitational. Both won their first and third matches of the weekend against Arkansas and UCF, respectively.
Senior Santiago Nieto will look to improve on his one win at UCF with a better performance this weekend.
Get all your updates about the Miami men’s tennis team at HurricaneSports.com.