Men's Tennis Drops Heartbreaker to UCF, 4-3
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami men’s tennis team was just a point away from its first true road victory of the season, but at the end it was UCF that won an instant classic played out at the USTA National Campus Sunday afternoon.
The Hurricanes (8-6, 0-3 ACC) claimed the doubles point in a dramatic fashion and won two of the first three singles matches against the Knights (7-6), but a late surge by the home team, including a breathtaking victory on court 4, grabbed UCF’s third win in the series all-time.
“Tough loss. Credit to UCF, they are a good team,” Miami head coach Aljosa Piric said. “We competed hard, but just could not break through the day. We were up match points to clinch the match on couple of spots but just could not close it. We need to continue to get tougher. We are getting closer and we will continue to work hard to get there.”
The match outcome fell on the shoulders of Miami redshirt sophomore Dane Dunlap and UCF’s Mikhail Sokolovskiy, who played a 2-hour-40-minute match, including two tiebreakers.
After Sokolovskiy took the lead with the longest first set of the day, 7-5, Dunlap tied it up with a 7-4 tiebreaker win in set two. Both players protected their serve games very well in the decisive sets, taking the match to another tiebreaker. Although Dunlap picked up the first match point at 6-5, it was Sokolovskiy who came out triumphant in the end, 7-6 (8-6).
The day started in contrasting fashion for Dunlap, an Ontario, Canada, native. He helped freshman Bojan Jankulovski to a decisive break at No. 2 for a 7-5 win against Gabriel Decamps and Danny Kerznerman that gave Miami the lead. Dunlap and Jankulovski improved to 3-0 as a pair.
At the top of the lineup, senior Christian Langmo and freshman Adria Soriano teamed up for the first time this season and demonstrated strong chemistry, cruising to a 6-3 triumph over No. 11 Korey Lovett and Eero Vasa.
Enrique Paya and Alan Rubio then tied the doubles contest by defeating Miami’s No. 3 pair of senior Niclas Genovese and freshman Tatsuki Shimamoto, 6-1.
The teams split the only two singles matches to finish in two sets. First, Soriano doubled the Hurricanes’ lead with a 6-4, 6-1 victory against Decamps, but then Rubio put the Knights on the board by besting Jankulovski, 6-3, 6-1, at the No. 3 position.
The only ranked singles player in the match, No. 99 Langmo, was most clinical in any of the third sets and dropped only one game against Lovett to give Miami a 3-1 cushion with a 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 win on the main court.
The Knights showed resilience in front of their own fans and responded right away via Vasa, who triumphed over Shimamoto, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, to bring UCF within a point.
Kerznerman tied the dual for the first time on the day with a 6-4, 0-6, 7-5 victory against Genovese, leaving the match in the hands of the No. 4’s.
After a two-week break, Miami resumes Atlantic Coast Conference play next week, welcoming No. 1 Wake Forest and No. 16 NC State to the Neil Schiff Tennis Center on Friday and Sunday, respectively.
For all of the latest news around Miami’s men’s tennis team, follow @CanesMensTennis on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram,or go to HurricaneSports.com.
RESULTS
Doubles Competition
1. Christian Langmo/Adria Soriano (UM) def. No. 11 Korey Lovett/Eero Vasa (UCF), 6-3
2. Dane Dunlap/Bojan Jankulovski (UM) def. Gabriel Decamps/Danny Kerznerman (UCF), 7-5
3. Enrique Paya/Alan Rubio (UCF) def. Niclas Genovese/Tatsuki Shimamoto (UM), 6-1
Singles Competition
1. No. 99 Christian Langmo (UM) def. Korey Lovett (UCF), 7-5, 4-6, 6-1
2. Adria Soriano (UM) def. Gabriel Decamps (UCF), 6-4, 6-1
3. Alan Rubio (UCF) def. Bojan Jankulovski (UM), 6-3, 6-1
4. Mikhail Sokolovskiy (UCF) def. Dane Dunlap (UM), 7-5, 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (8-6)
5. Eero Vasa (UCF) def. Tatsuki Shimamoto (UM), 2-6, 6-4, 6-4
6. Enrique Paya (UCF) def. Niclas Genovese (UM), 6-4, 0-6, 7-5
