AUSTIN, TEXAS, May 3, 2019 – No. 37 USF men's tennis secured a trip to the second round of the NCAA tournament by finishing strong against No. 23 Alabama on a rainy Friday afternoon.
 
Freshman Ivan Yatsuk clinched the match point for the Bulls in their 4-3 victory at Texas's Tennis Center. USF will face No. 2-seed Texas in the second round Saturday at 3 p.m.
 
The Bulls (18-7) spent the entire day battling weather, starting the march at 1 p.m., but not completing it until after 9p.m. USF opened the match with doubles wins on courts two and three. Chase Ferguson (Melbourne, Australia) and Sergio Gomez Montesa (Valencia, Spain) took court two, 6-4, while Jakub Wojcik (Delray Beach, Fla.) and Yatsuk (Minsk, Belarus) answered Alabama's top court win with a 7-6 (6) tie-breaker triumph at the No. 3 spot.
 
After a five-hour delay USF took its 1-0 lead indoors to finish its battle with the Crimson Tide.
 
Ferguson added to the Bulls' lead with a 6-4, 6-1, straight-set finish against No. 106 Edson Ortiz on court two, the freshman's fourth win in the last five matches, and his second win against a ranked opponent. This coming after his championship-clinching win last weekend. Alabama answered with a court-five win against Gomez Montesa, 6-3, 6-2.
 
Pierre Luquet (Draguignan, France) forced a third set on court three but finished strong 5-7, 6-1, 6-2, extending his win streak to five singles matches.
 
Alabama tied the game with wins on courts one and four. No. 47 Mazen Osama and No. 15 Alberto Barroso-Campos battled to three sets but the USF senior ultimately fell in a tiebreaker, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (4), while Wojcik was taken down after forcing a third set, 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-3.
 
Action closed on the sixth court where freshman Yatsuk secured the first NCAA tournament win of his career, shutting out Alexey Nesterov, 7-5, 7-6 (3).
 
 
Quotable
Head coach, Ashley Fisher, on today's display of grit against the odds.
"Just a tremendous effort today across the board. We talked about wanting a long adversity ridden day and we got our wish. Multiple rain delays, switching to indoors, roof leaks and all sort of swings but our boys cane through like they have come through in tough moments all year. So proud of Ivan for fighting through some tough moments and putting the team on his shoulders. We responded so well to moving indoors and even the guys that didn't win all competed like warriors extending their matches and making it tougher on Alabama. We have said and known all along this group is special and today was just another opportunity to show it and the boys grabbed it."
 
Match Results
Doubles
1. #11 Mazen Osama/Patrick Kaukovalta (ALA) def. #88 Alberto Barroso-Camp/Pierre Luquet (USF) 7-6 (7-5)
 2. Ivan Yatsuk/Jakub Wojcik (USF) def. Edson Ortiz/Riccardo Roberto (ALA) 7-6 (8-6)
3. Chase Ferguson/Sergio Gomez Montesa (USF) def. Sam Fischer/Zhe Zhou (ALA) 6-4
Order of finish: (3,1,2)
 
Singles
1. #47 Mazen Osama (ALA) def. #15 Alberto Barroso-Camp (USF) 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7-4)
2. Chase Ferguson (USF) def. #106 Edson Ortiz (ALA) 6-4, 6-1
3. Pierre Luquet (USF) def. Riccardo Roberto (ALA) 5-7, 6-1, 6-2
4. Zhe Zhou (ALA) def. Jakub Wojcik (USF) 7-6 (7-3), 3-6, 6-3
 5. Jeremy Gschwendtner (ALA) def. Sergio Gomez Montesa (USF) 6-3, 6-2
6. Ivan Yatsuk (USF) def. Alexey Nesterov (ALA) 7-5, 7-6 (7-3)
 
Order of finish: (2,5,3,1,4,6)
 
Up Next
The Bulls will remain in Austin to challenge No. 2 Texas in their home territory. Texas (24-3) swept Tennessee Tech, 4-0, earlier on Friday, earning their spot in the second round.
 
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