Men's Tennis Rallies Back for Spirited Win Over Xavier

BOX SCORE

NEW ORLEANS – Down for most of the match, Nicolas Kramer rallied from a set down to win and Karim Shokeir came storming back from down 5-2 in the third set to help complete a 4-3 comeback win for the University of New Orleans men's tennis team (8-8) over the Xavier Gold Rush on Tuesday at the University Tennis Center.
 
Shokeir lost the first set in a tiebreak to Adam Albrecht at No. 6 singles. The second set was all Shokeir though as he coasted to a 6-2 set victory to force a third and final set. The match wound up being the decider as it was the last to finish.
 
After trading games back and forth, Shokeir's serve was broken after the third changeover and that put him behind 5-2. Shokeir then proceeded to break Albrecht's serve three times including a break at 15 in the last game. The win completed a 7-4 home mark for the Privateers on the 2016 season.
 
The match started with a grinding doubles point. The No. 1 and No. 2 doubles were split. Shokeir and Giacomo Adoncecchi got out to an early lead and held steady for a 6-4 win. Luis Albuquerque and Jeffrey Hsu attempted to rally from down 5-2 at No. 1 doubles, but that fell short in a 6-4 loss. The point was decided when Xavier picked up a 6-4 victory at No. 3.
 
In singles, it was a mixed bag of results early. The momentum started to turn UNO's way though when Gonzalo Garcia, who was playing in his last home match, also came back from a set down to win. Garcia lost the first set 6-2, but came storming back winning the next two sets at 6-1, 6-3 to pull the match to 3-2.
 
Kramer then rallied back from a deficit of his own against Tushar Mandlekar. A back-and-forth first set win Mandlekar's favor at 6-4. Kramer continued the theme of the evening in the match that spanned three and a half hours with a 6-2 win in the second set and a 6-3 win in the third.
 
The Privateers will now head to Nacogdoches, Texas for the Southland Championships where they will face Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
 
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