@CanesMensTennis Wins 4-2 Against Liberty
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The No. 71 University of Miami men’s tennis defeated Liberty 4-2 in the second match of Saturday’s doubleheader at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center in Coral Gables, Fla. The Canes won three singles matches and two doubles matches.
“Liberty is a good team and has a lot of depth,” said head coach Mario Rincon. “Obviously having played earlier in morning for three hours is never easy, our guys came out strong and I am really proud of the way Christian Langmo and Andrew Harrington competed.”
Freshman Christian Langmo won an emotional match. After winning the first set handily, Langmo fell in the second and came back strong to close out against Egon Samaai, 6-2, 5-7, 6-2.
“In the first set, I came out pretty quick, I felt pretty fresh, and I just took control in the third,” said Langmo on his three-set win.
Fellow freshman Andrew Harrington pulled an incredible comeback to clinch the victory for the Canes. After falling in the first, he won two straight sets in dominant fashion to win his match against David Bush, 3-6, 6-1, 6-1.
“It feels excellent. I put in a lot of work out there,” said Harrington. “It wasn’t going well in the beginning, but I could see that he was missing more and I was making more and eventually I took the lead.”
Senior Wilfredo Gonzalez also found the winning ways and dominated his match against Jorge Azuero, 6-2, 6-1. Fellow senior Henrique Tsukamoto fell in a tough three-set match against Sam Matheson, 2-6, 6-0, 6-2.
Freshman Nile Clark pushed the match to a tiebreak in the second, but was unable to close out against Diego Castano and fell, 6-2, 7-6(5). No. 56 Piotr Lomacki’s tight three-set match against Dillon Segur was left unfinished, 7-6(0), 4-6, 2-3.
In doubles play, the Canes won two of three. Gonzalez teamed up with freshman Kevin Bondar and defeated Jorge Azuero and Egon Samaai, 6-2. The freshman tandem of Clark and Harrington also won, against David Bush and Sam Matheson, 6-3. Tsukamoto and Lomacki were unable to close out and fell to Dillon Segur and Diego Castano, 6-4.
Miami vs. FGCU
Earlier in the morning, the Canes faced FGCU, winning the doubles point, but falling 4-1 in the match.
Senior Henrique Tsukamoto paired up with rookie Piotr Lomacki in the top doubles spot, downing Jordi Vives and Tianyu Bao 6-4 to put the Canes ahead. Another senior/freshman duo of Wilfredo Gonzalez and Kevin Bondar took down Andres Alfonzo and Austin Bates, 6-3, to earn the doubles point for Miami.
In singles, Miami fell in four straight matches to fall 4-1 to FGCU. Ricky Ventura defeated Bernard Tefel 6-1, 6-0, to even the score at one, then Tianyu Bao downed Niclas Genovese, 6-3, 6-3 to give FGCU the 2-1 edge.
The Eagles went ahead 3-1 when Jordi Vives defeated No. 56 Piotr Lomacki 6-4, 7-5, then earned the win when Andres Alfonzo downed Henrique Tsukamoto, 6-3, 6-4.
Freshman Nile Clark was leading Michael Beiler 5-7, 6-0, 5-2, and Wilfredo Gonzalez was beginning his third set (4-6, 6-2) when the match was called.
“We got off to a really slow start in the singles, and it put a lot of pressure on the guys that were doing quite well,” said head coach Rincon “It’s a fast-paced game and whenever you are down quickly like that you give too much of an advantage to overcome.”
The Canes will be back in action next week when they host Kennesaw State on Friday, Feb. 13 at 12 p.m. and No. 48 Pepperdine on Feb. 14.
Stay up to date with the Canes on HurricaneSports.com. To interact with the UM men’s tennis team socially, follow @CanesMensTennis on Twitter and like the team on Facebook.com/CanesMensTennis.
#71 Miami 4, Liberty 2
Singles Competition
1. #56 Piotr Lomacki (UM) vs. Dillon Segur (LIB), 7-6(0), 4-6, 2-3, unfinished
2. Sam Matheson (LIB) def. Henrique Tsukamoto (UM), 2-6, 6-0, 6-2
3. Christian Langmo (UM) def. Egon Samaai (LIB), 6-2, 5-7, 6-2
4. Wilfredo Gonzalez (UM) def. Jorge Azuero (LIB), 6-2, 6-1
5. Diego Castano (LIB) def. Nile Clark (UM), 6-2, 7-6(5)
6. Andrew Harrington (UM) def. David Bush (LIB), 3-6, 6-1, 6-1
Doubles Competition
1. Segur/Castano def. Tsukamoto/Lomacki, 6-4
2. Gonzalez/Bondar def. Azuero/Samaai, 6-2
3. Clark/Harrington def. Bush/Matheson, 6-3
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (4,5,3,2,6)
FGCU 4, #71 Miami 1
Singles Competition
1. Jordi Vives (FGCU) def. #56 Piotr Lomacki, 6-4, 7-5
2. Andres Alfonzo (FGCU) def. Henrique Tsukamoto, 6-3, 6-4
3. Wilfredo Gonzalez (UM) vs. Eduardo Alfonzo (FGCU), 4-6, 6-2, unfinished
4. Ricky Ventura (FGCU) def. Bernard Tefel (UM), 6-1 6-0
5. Tianyu Bao (FGCU) def. Niclas Genovese (UM), 6-3, 6-3
6. Nile Clark (UM) vs. Michael Beiler (FGCU), 5-7, 6-0, 5-2, unfinished
Doubles Competition
1. Tsukamoto/Lomacki def. Vives/Bao, 6-4
2. Gonzalez/Bondar def. A. Alfnozo/Bates, 6-3
3. Clark/Harrington vs. Ventura/Vaz, 5-5, unfinished
Match Notes:
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (4,5,1,2)
