TUSCALOOSA, AL – The Crimson Tide men’s tennis team struggled at both the ITA Fall National Championship and the UFC Fall Invite in an action-packed weekend.
The ITA Fall National Championship began on Nov. 4 and saw Juan Martin and Filip Planinsek, fresh off their Oct. 18 ITA Southern Regional doubles title, fall to Baylor’s Sven Lah and Finn Bass (6-4, 6-3) in the Round of 32.
They dropped another neck-and-neck matchup to Nebraska’s Dario Huber and Victor Moreno Lozano (6-4, 6-2), failing to swing momentum in their favor en route to a loss in the consolation Round of 16.
The first day of the UFC Fall Invite, Friday, Nov. 5, was cancelled due to inclement weather. The Tide had a solid showing on Saturday, but narrowly dropped multiple highly contested matchups. Enzo Aguiard and Joao Ferreira notched the Tide’s first win of the weekend, defeating USF’s Alvin Tudorica and Sergio Gomez Montesa 6-4.
Both Aguiard and Ferreira followed that up with singles wins over USF’s Ivan Yatsuk 6-0, 4-6, 7-6(3) and FSU’s John Bernard 6-2, 6-3 respectively.
Rudi Christiansen and Zach Foster kicked off the UCF Fall Invite’s final day with a doubles win, defeating USF’s John Bernard and Alex Bulte 6-2. Christiansen was able to secure a singles victory over USF’s Tom Pisan 6-3, 4-6, 6-0, while Ferreira earned his second singles win of the weekend, dropping USF’s Ivan Yatsuk 7-6(1), 2-6, 6-2.
The Crimson Tide struggled to cap off what was otherwise a stellar fall season. Men’s tennis returns to action Jan. 15 when they will host Mercer and Samford in Tuscaloosa.
