NEW ORLEANS, La. – The New Orleans Privateers men's tennis team was in a grind but fell short in a 4-0 loss against the UTSA Roadrunners on Sunday afternoon at the University Tennis Center.
The Roadrunners sped to the opening point after winning at flights one and three in doubles. Leon Hein and Javier Rodriguez won 6-2 for the road side and were first off the court. Juri Reckow and Joao Ceolin got an early break at flight one and held serve the rest of the match for a 6-4 win.
"I think we fought well but it was a tough match," said Coach
Burzis Kanga. "Every one of these players knew the importance of playing these schools. We just have to keep on working and get ready for the next match on Friday.
UTSA won in straight sets at flight six, three, and four to take the match 4-0. At flight three and four, both players rallied back from an early break in the second set to prevail and move the Roadrunners to 5-1 on the year.
"We just need to put four points together," said Kanga. "I think across the board we're playing good tennis but we need to play smarter tennis. We need to put everything into place and once we do, we can be successful."
The rest of the matches that went unfinished were either in the balance or in the Privateers' favor.
Misha Fomenkov got out to a 3-0 lead in the first set and held out from there while playing at flight one against Kai Brietbach, the 66th ranked player in the nation according to the ITA. Fomenkov then was in the midst of rallying back from a 4-1 deficit in the second set at the time the match was stopped.
Mats Westkamp was ahead in the second set after falling in the first set at flight two.
Odysseas Papaioannou also rallied back to win the second set after dropping the first. Papaioannou had two service breaks to go ahead 5-1 and ultimately push a third set.
The team will play again on Saturday, Feb. 9 when they take on the Loyola Wolfpack. The match is scheduled for a 12 p.m. start.
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