Top-Seeded Soriano Wins Title at Rice Invitational
HOUSTON, Texas – University of Miami men’s tennis freshman Adria Soriano won the first intercollegiate singles event he participated in, fighting off Tim Ruetzel of Tulane at the Rice Invitational Sunday.
Soriano came out as a 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 victor in the Blue Draw final and justified the top seed he was given for the tournament. Win the win, the freshman improved to 3-0 in singles play this season.
“I am very happy about the victory,” Soriano said. “It feels great starting [my college career] this way and it gives me motivation to continue working hard.”
“It was a great way to close the weekend out,” Miami head coach Aljosa Piric said. “We competed well this weekend and finished the tournament strong. We need to continue to improve and continue to get tougher as a team.”
More good news arrived from Tulsa, Okla., Sunday, where senior Christian Langmo won two more victories in the pre-qualification round at the ITA Men’s All-American Championships to earn one of the 16 spots in the qualification round, which starts Monday. After advancing to the round of 32 by a walkover, Langmo then convincingly defeated Mississippi’s Cotter Wilson – 6-2, 6-2 – to advance to the second stage of the prestigious nine-day event.
“Christian played well this weekend, he was composed during his matches” Miami assistant coach Petar Danolic said. “It is a good start of the year for him. Hopefully, he will continue with momentum tomorrow.”
Junior Dane Dunlap could not join Langmo and freshman Bojan Jankulovski, who was placed directly into the qualification stage, further in the competition after falling 6-4, 6-2 to Zdenek Derkas of Fresno State in the round of 64.
In Houston, Texas, three more Hurricanes completed the first week of their season with wins, all coming in straight sets. Seniors Niclas Genovese and Nile Clark upended Tulane’s Chase Schupp and Isaac Perez of Air Force, respectively, with an identical scorelines – 6-3, 6-3.
Freshman Pablo Aycart Joya, who was scheduled to face the home-team representative Mohamed Abdel-Aziz, found out Sunday that he would have to play Abdel-Aziz’s teammate, Daniel Warren, instead. The Hurricane adjusted very well to the scheduling mix-up and earned his first singles victory – 6-4, 6-2 – and Miami’s fifth victory on the day, combined between both tournaments.
“We have a bunch of guys who want to compete and want to get better,” Piric said. “I look forward to seeing how these guys develop and grow as a group.”
Langmo’s and Jankulovski’s opponents in Tulsa, Okla., will be released later Sunday evening. As for the rest of the team, they will return to campus for a few days before heading out to Tallahassee for next week’s Bedford Cup.
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SATURDAY RESULTS (RICE INVITATIONAL)
Canes at All-American Championships, Qualifications (Monday):
Singles:
Christian Langmo vs. Bar Botzer (Wake Forest), 9 a.m.
Bojan Jankulovski vs. No. 25-32 Josef Dodridge (Wisconsin), 8 a.m.
Doubles:
Christian Langmo/Dane Dunlap vs. No. 6 Antonioni Fasaro/Dominik Stary (Northwestern), 1:30 p.m.
