MTen Splits Pair of Matches Opening Weekend

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The No. 65 University of Miami men’s tennis team lost, 5-2, to No. 12 Florida then came back to sweep Bethune-Cookman, 7-0, at the Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex in Gainesville, Fla., in the Hurricanes’ opening weekend.
Newcomer William Albanese won three of his four events on the day, picking up a pair of singles wins and one in doubles while Junior Gabriel Flores was 2-0 in his singles matches. 
“Our guys have improved very much from a year ago, and everyone competed hard today,” said head coach Mario Rincon.
Flores and Albanese each picked up wins in their singles matches against Florida in the spring opener. In the No. 5 position, Flores downed Billy Federhofer in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3. In his first match as a Hurricane, Albanese took Luke Johnson to three sets. After coming up short, 3-6, in the first set, Albanese won both the second and third set, 6-2, for his first collegiate singles win. 
“We take a lot of positives from our match today against UF,” added Rincon. “We came back strong after the doubles, and gave ourselves an opportunity. Gabriel and William came up with very good wins today.”
Against Bethune-Cookman, Miami won all six singles matches and two-of-three in doubles. Gonzalez paired with Stancati to down Juan Varon and Seve Day, 8-3 in the top doubles spot. Aly and Albanese downed Kip Jackson and Gilbert Kibet, 8-3, for the second doubles win of the match. 
In singles against Bethune-Cookman, five of six Canes defeated their opponent in straight sets. In the No. 1 singles position, Soto defeated Juan Varon, 6-1, 6-2, and in the second spot, Gonzalez beat Santiago Lobelo, 6-2, 6-1. Flores downed Leonardo Lima, 6-3, 6-2 and in the No. 6 position, Stancati defeated Kip Jackson 6-4, 6-0. Albanese took Moritz Pronath to a tiebreaker, winning the match 6-2, 5-7, 1-0. 
“We played well against Bethune-Cookman, and our guys took advantage of opportunities early in the match, and carried the momentum,” said Rincon.  
Against Florida, Diego Soto played in the top position for Miami, falling 6-0, 7-6, to No. 26 Florent Diep in a four-hour match, while Victor Mauz, in the fourth position, was defeated, 6-4, 6-3 by No. 118 Gordon Watson. In other singles matches, Wilfredo Gonzalez came up short, 6-3, 6-1, to Stephane Piro and Omar Aly lost, 6-0, 6-3, to Michael Alford in the third position. 
In doubles against Florida, Wilfredo Gonzalez and Marco Stancati paired up in the top spot against the No. 45 duo of Mike Alford and Florent Diep, falling 8-2. Omar Aly and newcomer William Albanese came up short, 8-1, to the Gators’ Federhofer and Watson. The final doubles match, between UM’s Diego Soto and Henrique Tsukamoto and UF’s Luke Johnson and Stephane Piro, was not completed. 
“We will resume our training on Tuesday and prepare for the ITA kick-off next weekend in Columbus, Ohio,” Rincon concluded. 
Miami next travels to Columbus, Ohio, to play in the ITA Kickoff Weekend. The Canes will face No. 70 Louisiana-Lafayette on Jan. 26 at 2 p.m., then on Jan. 27 will battle either No. 4 Ohio State or T-No. 71 East Tennessee State. 
For more information on the University of Miami men’s tennis team, log on to HurricaneSports.com. To follow the UM men’s tennis team socially, visit Twitter.com/CanesMensTennis and facebook.com/MiamiHurricanesMensTennis
Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis ComplexGainesville, Fla.Saturday, January 19, 2013No. 65 Miami at No. 12 Florida Mike Alford (45) / Florent Diep (45) def. Wilfredo Gonzalez / Marco Stancati (UM), 8-2Billy Federhofer / Gordon Watson def. Omar Aly / William Albanese (UM), 8-1Luke Johnson / Stephane Piro def. Diego Soto / Henrique Tsukamoto (UM), DNF, UF led 7-3Florent Diep (26) def. Diego Soto (UM), 6-0, 7-6 Stephane Piro def. Wilfredo Gonzalez (UM), 6-3, 6-1 Michael Alford def. Omar Aly (UM), 6-0, 6-3 Gordon Watson (118) def. Victor Mauz (UM), 6-4, 6-3Gabriel Flores (UM) def. Billy Federhofer, 6-4, 6-3 William Albanese (UM) def. Luke Johnson, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2
No. 65 Miami vs. Bethune-CookmanWilfredo Gonzalez / Marco Stancati (UM) def. Juan Varon / Seve Day, 8-3Omar Aly / William Albanese (UM) def. Kip Jackson / Gilbert Kibet, 8-3Santiago Lobelo / Diego Garavito def. Diego Soto / Henrique Tsukamoto (UM), 8-4Diego Soto (UM) def. Juan Varon, 6-1, 6-2Wilfredo Gonzalez (UM) def. Santiago Lobelo, 6-2, 6-1Gabriel Flores (UM) def. Leonardo Lima, 6-3, 6-2Victor Mauz (UM) def. Diego Garavito, 6-1, 6-3William Albanese (UM) def. Moritz Pronath, 6-2, 5-7, 10-8 Marco Stancati (UM) def. Kip Jackson, 6-4, 6-0