Soriano Barrera Reaches Quarterfinals at ITA Fall Nationals
SURPRISE, Ariz. – Adria Soriano Barrera of the University of Miami men’s tennis team split a pair of matches on Friday at the 2018 Oracle ITA National Fall Championships.
“It was tremendous fall for Adri,” Miami assistant coach Petar Danolic said. “He has shown on numerous occasions that he is one of the best players in the country. It is important now that he maintains this momentum going into the spring season.”
Ranked No. 41, Soriano Barrera opened play Friday morning at the Surprise Tennis & Racquet Complex in dominant fashion, rolling past No. 115 Will Little of Baylor in the opening set, 6-1. After Soriano Barrera took a quick second set lead, 1-0, Little was retired from the match, advancing the Miami sophomore to the quarterfinals.
Once there, the Barcelona, Spain, native matched up against Thomas Laurent of Oregon, eighth-ranked and fifth-seeded. In a back-and-forth opening set, Soriano Barrera jumped in front, 5-3, before Laurent rallied back to force a first-set tiebreaker. In the tiebreaker, Soriano Barrera came up short and dropped the set, 6-7 (1-7).
In the second set, the sophomore trailed, 0-2, before taking four straight games to jump in front. However, Laurent again was able to claw his way back to seal the match, 7-6 (1), 7-5.
“He had three great wins this tournament, including the match he won this morning against Little from Baylor. In the quarterfinal match, he had a tough opponent,” Danolic said. “Adri had lots of chances to close out both sets, but simply didn’t do it. It is great learning experience for him. He is aware of what he needed to do in those keys moments and he will continue to work on it.”
Soriano Barrera caps off his fall campaign with an impressive 8-4 mark, most notably reaching the finals of the ITA Southeast Regional.
To keep up with the University of Miami tennis team on social media, follow @CanesMensTennis on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
FRIDAY RESULTS
Singles Main Draw – Round of 16
No. 41 Adria Soriano Barrera (Miami) def. No. 115 Will Little (Baylor), 6-1, 1-0, ret.
Singles Main Draw – Quarterfinals
No. 8 [5] Thomas Laurent (Oregon) def. No. 41 Adria Soriano Barrera (Miami), 7-6 (1), 7-5
