Men’s Tennis Wins First of Three League Matches of the Weekend

Friday, April 5

Charlotte, N.C.

12:00 PM

Florida Atlantic

Old Dominion

Photo by: JC Ridley/Owlpix.com

Men’s Tennis Wins First of Three League Matches of the Weekend

4/5/2019 9:32:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Despite a time and location change, the Florida Atlantic University men's tennis team was victorious Friday to open up a three-match, three-day slate of conference play in Charlotte, 4-1 over Old Dominion.

Notables:

ODU (9-8, 0-1 Conference USA) took the early lead in doubles, in a tiebreaker in the No. 1 slot after already having a point at No. 3
But the Owls (16-8, 2-0 C-USA) responded with four straight singles points, all in straight sets
First in was Mehdi Laalej at No. 3, 6-1, 6-2. Right behind him was No. 5 Ignacio Garcia, 6-3, 6-3
Pushing the team to the brink was Jason Legall, winning 6-3, 7-5 at No. 1
The clincher came courtesy of Alvaro Fernandez Horta, topping his No. 6 opponent, 7-6, 6-1

Quotable

Head Coach Ricardo Gonzalez:
"Today was a very tough battle against a very good Old Dominion team. The match could've gone either way. I am very pleased with the way our team stepped up after losing the doubles point. We didn't panic and took care of business in singles. We need to carry this momentum for tomorrow as we have another big challenge ahead of us."

Sophomore Ignacio Garcia:
"This was a redemption from last year's conference finals match and we started off with a lot of energy. Although we lost the doubles point, we were confident that we were going to win our singles matches and it showed, as everyone was really focused from the beginning of the match. I felt that concentration we had throughout the match helped us win today and this win will only give us more confidence for tomorrow and Sunday's matches."

Full Results:
FAU 4, ODU 1
Doubles
1. Aziz Kijametovic/Francois Musitelli (ODU) def. Jason Legall/Ignacio Garcia (FAU) 7-6
2. Nicola Vidal/Luca Maldoner (ODU) vs. Mehdi Laalej/Gabriel Sidney (FAU) 5-6, unfinished
3. Jannik Giesse/Oliver Tobisch (ODU) def. Kirac Bekisoglu/Thomas Guy (FAU) 6-2

Singles
1. Jason Legall (FAU) def. Aziz Kijametovic (ODU) 6-3, 7-5
2. Francois Musitelli (ODU) vs. Kirac Bekisoglu (FAU) 6-7 (4-6), 6-3, unfinished
3. Mehdi Laalej (FAU) def. Jannik Giesse (ODU) 6-1, 6-2
4. Nicola Vidal (ODU) vs. Gabriel Sidney (FAU) 6-7, 3-3, unfinished
5. Ignacio Garcia (FAU) def. Luca Maldoner (ODU) 6-3, 6-3
6. Alvaro Fernandez Horta (FAU) def. Oliver Tobisch (ODU) 7-6, 6-1

What's Next

The three days of conference matchups continues Saturday, against the hosts, Charlotte. As of now, the match is scheduled for 3 p.m., and live stats will be available HERE.