Aubone, Hannestad Advance to ITA Fall Nationals Semifinals
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. – Battling a top-25 foe Thursday night at the Tennis Club at Newport Beach, junior Benjamin Hannestad and sophomore Franco Aubone of the University of Miami men’s tennis team advanced to the quarterfinals of the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships.
“Benjamin and Franco keep showing consistent perseverance and fight when the match is on the line,” assistant coach Beck Pennington said. “They are enjoying playing with each other and are both bringing great energy.”
The duo squared off against TCU’s Jacob Fearnley and Alastair Gray, ranked No. 22 nationally, quickly found themselves trailing, 0-3, in the opening set.
Despite momentum being gained with a service win and a break point, the UM duo was unable to overcome a strong first-set showing by the Horned Frogs and fell 2-6.
In the second set Fearnley and Gray continued to pull away, taking 10 of the opening 13 games. However, Aubone and Hannestad quickly regrouped out of a break and won the next three games and brought the set to a tie, 4-4.
On the verge of being eliminated, down 4-5, the Miami duo once again fought back and won back-to-back games to take a 6-5 advantage.
On the serve with a 40-15 lead in the 12th game, Miami was unable to hold on and TCU took the final three points to force a second-set tiebreaker. But Aubone and Hannestad regrouped and claimed the set, 7-6 (7-1).
In the final set, the Hurricanes’ tandem carried momentum into the first eight points, to take a commanding 6-2 lead. However, TCU once again fought back to even the set at 6-6.
With points exchanged over the next seven points, Aubone and Hannestad officially pulled away in the 20th point to secure their first top-25 victory as partners, 2-6, 7-6 (7-1), 1-0 (11-9).
Overall, the duo is riding a nine-match winning streak entering the quarterfinals and improved to 13-2 in doubles play this fall.
On Friday night, Aubone and Hannestad locked up a spot in the semifinals after Baylor’s Constantin Frantzen and Sven Lah withdrew from the competition.
Battling the nation’s 18th-ranked doubles tandem and the second seed in the tournament, Matej Vocel and Dominik Kellovsky of Oklahoma State, Aubone and Hannestad dropped the match, 0-6,2-6. Overall, the Miami duo capped the fall season 13-3 in doubles action.
