No. 1 UTA and No. 2 ACU To Battle For 2023 WAC Men's Tennis Tournament Title
ARLINGTON, Texas – The two high seeds in the men’s Western Athletic Conference Tournament proved their rankings by advancing to the championship match with good wins Friday at the Arlington Tennis Center.
No. 1 UT Arlington 5 – No. 5 UTRGV 0
The top-seeded UT Arlington Mavericks continued their undefeated streak in conference matches with a 5-0 win over the No. 5 UTRGV Vaqueros by virtue of a simultaneous clinch.
The match started with an intense doubles session. UTRGV took the first doubles match in the No. 1 spot as Emilien Burnel and Borna Devald held off a comeback attempt to win 7-5. The Mavericks evened the session with a 6-4 win on the second court by Santiago Giamichelle and Dante Teramo. On court three, UTA’s Joan Torres Espinosa and Lachlan Robertson rallied back from an early deficit to win in the tiebreaker, 7-6 (7:4), and secure the 1-0 lead.
UTA put itself in position by taking the first set on five of six singles courts. The top of the Mavericks lineup shined as Anton Shepp took a solid 6-3, 6-2 win in the No. 1 flight, then Giamichelle made it 3-0 Mavericks with a 6-2, 6-4 win on the second court.
UTRGV’s Chris Lawrance fought off match points in the No. 6 match by winning two consecutive games after falling behind 2-5 in the second set to Espinosa. On court three, Solano Caffarena came back from an early deficit in the second set of his match to win 6-4, 6-4 and clinch the match. It was ruled that the Mavericks got a simultaneous clinch as Espinosa’s match point was in progress when Caffarena’s match finished, so Espinosa took a 6-4, 6-4 victory as well.
No. 2 Abilene Christian 4 – No. 3 Grand Canyon 1
The 2022 WAC tournament champions will get a chance to defend their title as the No. 2 Abilene Christian (ACU) Wildcats defeated the No. 3 Grand Canyon (GCU) Lopes 4-1 in a semifinal match that was closer than the score indicates.
ACU opened the match strong to clinch the doubles point. The No. 1 Wildcats duo of Cesar Barranquero and Dario Kmet won their match 6-2. Savan Chhabra and Ethan Scribner secured the 1-0 lead with a good 6-3 win at No. 3.
The two teams played a tight singles session, splitting the first sets. ACU won the opening frame on the first, third and sixth courts, but the Lopes took the other three. Mihaly Deli cruised in the No. 6 match to extend ACU’s lead with a 6-2, 6-2 win. Grand Canyon got on the board as David Wekesa finished strong on the fourth court to win 6-3, 6-4.
The WAC player of the Year, Dario Kmet, held strong in the No. 1 match. He took a 6-3, 7-5 victory to give the Wildcats a 3-1 advantage. Daniel Morozov clinched the victory and sent the Wildcats to the championship match with a gritty, come-from-behind 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 win in the No. 2 flight, playing his best tennis when the team needed it most.
Saturday’s Championship Schedule
No. 1 UT Arlington vs. No. 2 Abilene Christian, 12 p.m.