TAMPA, FEB. 19, 2016--On a beautiful day in Tampa, the 14th-ranked University of South Florida men's tennis team took down No. 55 South Carolina, 4-1. Sophomore Justin Roberts (Nassau, Bahamas) clinched the match for USF with his first win of the season.
Roberts capped off the day on court four with a 7-6, 6-4 win. Fighting game-by-game in the first set, the momentum took over in the second as Roberts clinched the match for the Bulls. After a rough start to the season, the sophomore broke his slump to pick up his first win of the year.
“He's been putting in the work and doing the right things, and just hadn't gotten the results yet," head coach Matt Hill said. "I think today was a great example of how he stayed with his game plan and it paid off for him. I think it'll help him a lot moving forward, he's playing great tennis and it's great to see him putting it together in the big moments now.”
The Bulls started the day by clinching the doubles point for a 1-0 advantage heading into singles play. At the No. 2 spot, Sasha Gozun (Orhei, Moldova) and Vadym Kalyuzhnyy (Donetsk, Ukraine) dominated, 6-3. The pairing moved to 5-2 this season.
In the No. 3 position, Roberto Cid and Ignacio Gonzalez-Muniz trailed 5-3, but avenged their early deficit by winning the match 7-6 (7-4). No. 40 Dominic Cotrone (Bradenton, Fla.) and Roberts were on the brink of clinching their own court, when court three rallied to clinch.
The top player for USF, No. 7 Cid proved why he's a top 10 player, demolishing Alex Fennell, 6-1, 6-0 at the premier spot.
“It's big actually, because I've been losing the first set quite a bit," Cid said. "One of my goals today was to have a strong start, win the first couple games and just keep rolling. I think I did that, for sure, so I am happy, definitely, to win in straight sets.”
Gonzalez-Muniz continued to anchor the back end of the rotation, with a 6-3, 6-2 result. He moved to 5-2 on the year defeating South Carolina's Wood Benton.
With the victory, the Bulls improve their record to 5-3 and undefeated at home (3-0). The rematch between No. 14 USF and No. 17 San Diego will take place on Sunday, Feb. 21, at 11 a.m. at the USF Varsity Tennis Courts.
For more information on the USF men's tennis program, follow @USFBullsMTennis on Twitter.
