The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men’s tennis team put on a strong performance in singles action on the opening day of the UTC Steve Baras Fall Classic today.  The Mocs won the top five singles matches to kick off the three-day event with Troy University at the UTC Tennis Center. 

“Once the rain cleared, it was a beautiful day for tennis,” stated UTC Head Coach Chuck Merzbacher.  “Troy is a tremendously tough team and our guys really battled out some very hard fought wins.”

Sophomore Tomas Rodriguez started things with a straight-sets win over Vito Llinares (6-3, 6-3), while  freshman Peyton Gatti, Kerim Hyatt and Turner Voges all had three-set, comeback wins.  Gatti won in a third-set tiebreaker over Christopher Tasker [3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5)] for his fourth win in a row.  Hyatt dropped his first set against Amer Bedwan but took the last two for the win (4-6, 6-3, 6-3).

Voges had an epic three-set battle with Manuel Bernard.  He won the third set in a tiebreaker [2-6, 7-5, 7-6 (5)].  Freshman Jeffery Dewald had the other early victory over Joaquin Bianchi (6-0, 6-2). 

UTC won seven of the 10 singles matches.  Freshman Jordan McClure made quick work of his match against Andy Romero (6-3, 6-2), while fellow frosh Quinten Nevenhoven won in three sets over Nicolas Rodriguez (3-6, 6-1, 6-1).  After dropping the first set, Nevenhoven won 12 of the last 14 games.  

UTC also won two of three doubles, led by Dewald and Rodriguez’s 7-5 win over Bianchi and Llinares.  Voges and sophomore Simon Labbe and a 6-4 win over Bernard and Francisco Erramuspe, while Nevenhoven and junior Jacob Marshall scored a 6-4 victory against Rodriguez and Jorge Poyatos. 

“Anytime you can win 10 out of 15 matches against a team like that, you competed,” added Merzbacher.  “Doubles is getting better and I’m seeing some growth there.

“Looking forward to tomorrow!”

The Mocs are back in action on Saturday with a first serve at 10:00 a.m. (E.D.T.).  Reminder that spectators are not allowed for the event, but you can follow along with live scoring and ESPN+ links on the men’s tennis schedule page on GoMocs.com.

UTC Steve Baras Fall Classic Day 1 Results
Singles
Tomas Rodriguez (UTC) def. Vito Llinares (Troy) 6-3, 6-3
Peyton Gatti (UTC) def. Christopher Tasker (Troy) 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5)
Kerim Hyatt (UTC) def. Amer Bedwan (Troy) 4-6, 6-3, 6-3
Jeffrey Dewald (UTC) def. Joaquin Bianchi (Troy) 6-0, 6-2
Turner Voges (UTC) def. Manuel Bernard (Troy) 2-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-5)
Francisco Erramuspe (Troy) def. Luke Plaisted (UTC) 6-2, 6-4
Nicolas Rodriguez (Troy) def. Jacob Marshall (UTC) 6-3, 6-2
Quinten Nevenhoven (UTC) def. Jorge Poyatos (Troy) 3-6, 6-1, 6-1
Jordan McClure (UTC) def. Andy Romero (Troy) 6-3, 6-2
Antonio Selma (Troy) def. Kaisei Kuroki (UTC) 6-4, 6-4


Doubles
Christopher Tasker/Amer Bedwan (Troy) def. Peyton Gatti/Kerim Hyatt (UTC) 6-4
Jeffrey Dewald/Tomas Rodriguez (UTC) def. Joaquin Bianchi/Vito Llinares (Troy) 7-5
Turner Voges/Simon Labbe (UTC) def. Manuel Bernard/Francisco Erramuspe (Troy) 6-4
Jacob Marshall/Quinten Nevenhoven (UTC) def. Nicolas Rodriguez/Jorge Poyatos (Troy) 6-4
Andy Romero/Antonio Selma (Troy) def. Jordan McClure/Kaisei Kuroki (UTC) 7-6 (8-6)