Canes Tennis Sweeps FAU, 7-0
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – University of Miami senior Diego Soto and freshman Bernard Tefel paced the Canes tennis team, helping the men win handily in their spring opener against FAU at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center Sunday. Miami won all three of its doubles matches and all six of its singles matches, to take the 7-0 team win.
“Today was a great way to start the season,” said head coach Marion Rincon. “Our guys were really focused today. We started strong in the doubles and it gave us a lot of confidence.”
Soto, coming off a solid junior campaign that saw him win 12 singles matches, bested Florida Atlantic’s Richard Mead in straight sets, 6-3, 6-0. The senior also paired with Gabriel Flores to take their doubles match, 6-1.
Newcomer Bernard Tefel, a Florida native from local Christopher Columbus High, embraced his move to the college ranks, beating Harrison Heysek in straight sets 6-2, 6-0. The freshman was the 16th ranked high school player in the state of Florida by Tennis Recruiting.
Senior Omar Aly and sophomore William Albanese also won their opening day singles matches, 6-5, 6-3 and 6-2, 6-3, respectively. Aly paired with junior Wilfredo Gonzalez to take home the top spot’s doubles win, 6-5, over FAU’s Will Neuner and Andre Morin-Kougoucheff.
Senior Gabriel Flores won a hard-fought, three set match at the No. 1 position, beating Andre Morin-Kougoucheff 6-0, 3-6, 6-2. The Puerto Rican native is looking to improve on the 13 singles wins he had during his junior season.
Junior Henrique Tsukamoto also won his singles match, beating Robert Dubuque 6-3, 5-6, 6-3, and paired with Albanese to win the second position doubles match, 6-3, over Meade and Dubuque.
The men are back in action next Sunday, hitting the road to take on in-state rival UCF at 12 p.m. ET.
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#55 Miami 7, Florida Atlantic 0
Singles competition
1. Gabriel Flores (UM) def. M.-Kougoucheff, A. (FAU) 6-0, 3-6, 6-2
2. Diego Soto (UM) def. Meade, Richard (FAU) 6-3, 6-0
3. Omar Aly (UM) def. Neuner, Will (FAU) 6-5, 6-3
4. William Albanese (UM) def. Gerald Nickerson (FAU) 6-2, 6-3
5. Henrique Tsukamoto (UM) def. Dubuque, Robert (FAU) 6-3, 5-6, 6-3
6. Bernard Tefel (UM) def. Harrison Heysek (FAU) 6-2, 6-0
Doubles competition
1. Omar Aly/Wilfredo Gonzalez (UM) def. Neuner, Will/M.-Kougoucheff, A. (FAU) 6-5
2. Henrique Tsukamoto/William Albanese (UM) def. Meade, Richard/Dubuque, Robert (FAU) 6-3
3. Gabriel Flores/Diego Soto (UM) def. Harrison Heysek/Bacha, Sean (FAU) 6-1
Match Notes:
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (6,2,4,3,1,5)