Soriano Barrera Comes up Short in Thriller
TULSA, Okla. – Due to inclement weather, the opening round of the ITA All-American Championships main draw was delayed four hours and was eventually moved indoors to the Michael D. Case Tennis Center on Wednesday evening.
University of Miami junior Adria Soriano Barrera, ranked No. 31 in the ITA singles rankings, battled No. 45 Valentin Vacherot of Texas A&M until the final serve, but it was not enough. In a back-and-forth match, the junior came up just short, 6-4, 2-6, 6-7 (5-7).
“I’m very proud of the way Adri fought today,” first-year assistant coach Beck Pennington said. “He is buying into the process and making improvements. I’m excited for him to get back to it tomorrow and build off of today’s match.”
With the score tied at four, in the first set, Soriano Barrera secured a break to jump in front 5-4. Then, back on the serve, the junior collected a service ace to go up 40-15 before claiming the set, 6-4.
With the match tied at 2-2 in the second set, Vacherot grabbed back-to-back break points to ultimately force a third set, 6-2.
Carrying momentum into the third, Vacherot jumped out to an early 4-2 advantage, before Soriano Barrera fought back to even it at four apiece.
Vacherot then sat at match point, 6-5 (40-40), with Soriano Barrera on the serve. The Barcelona, Spain, native, however, kept the match alive when he smashed home a service ace to force a tiebreaker.
Trailing 1-3 in the breaker, Soriano Barrera won the next four points, but it was not enough as Vacherot ultimately claimed the match, 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-5).
Soriano Barrera will return to action Thursday in the back draw, facing No. 69 Kareem Allaf of Iowa at noon ET.
