Boca Raton, Fla., Jan. 18, 2020 – The University of South Florida men's tennis team topped the East Tennessee State University Buccaneers, 6-1, at the FAU Tennis Complex. USF has now opened its spring season with two straight wins in each of the last two years.
 
USF (2-0) started off strong with a doubles point victory, clinched by Ivan Yatsuk (Minsk, Belarus) and Sergio Gomez Montesa (Valencia, Spain) on court three against Dimitri Badra and Miguel Este, 6-3.
 
With a 1-0 lead in tow, Pierre Luquet (Draguignan, France) continued the Bulls' strong performance with a straight set win on court three, 6-2, 6-0, over ETSU's Juan Lugo. No. 121 Chase Ferguson (Melbourne, Australia) came back from a first set loss on court one to defeat Frazier Rengifo, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1, to add another win for South Florida.
 
Antonio Muniz-Hidalgo (Barcelona, Spain) celebrated his birthday with a three-set win against Dimitri Badra on court four to clinch the match and put the Bulls up 4-0.
 
ETSU won its first point of the match with Yusuf Khamis rallying back on court two against Jakub Wojcik (Delray Beach, Fla). Wojcik dropped the first set, but fought back to force a deciding set before falling in the third, 5-7.
 
Yatsuk extended the Bulls' lead with a court-five win against Dylan Bednarczyk, winning the final two sets to earn the point. Rithvik Bollipalli (Hyderbad, India) closed out the match on the final court against Miguel Este 6-2, 5-7, 6-2.
 
Quotable
Head coach Ashley Fisher on today's win against ETSU…
"We were happy with our resilience and how we competed today. ETSU is a good team and the conditions were tricky with a lot of wind. We did a great job in doubles of playing together and off each other and then the boys competed well in singles despite not playing their best tennis. We expect to get better every match and look forward to another opportunity to show our stuff tomorrow."
 
Up Next
The Bulls stay in Boca Raton to test FAU tomorrow at noon.
 
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