GAINESVILLE, Fla., Jan. 25, 2020 – USF men's tennis remained undefeated with a 4-2 win over Fresno State during the first day of competition at ITA Kickoff Weekend, hosted by the University of Florida.
 
The 4-0 Bulls will face the winner of Saturday afternoon's match between No. 2 Florida and Temple on Sunday at a to-be-determined time.
 
USF earned the doubles point in a timely fashion. Chase Ferguson (Melbourne, Australia) and Pierre Luquet (Draguignan, France) defeated Zdenek Derkas and Angus Bradshaw on court two, 6-2, before Sergio Gomez Montesa (Valencia, Spain) and Ivan Yatsuk (Minsk, Belarus) outlasted Henrique Osorio and Alexey Aleschev on the final court, 6-5. The best doubles point-clincher for the sophomore tandem yet this season improved their record to 4-0.
 
Fresno State tied the match at 1-1, as the Bulldogs' Alexey Aleschev earned the first singles point against Antonio Muniz-Hidalgo (Barcelona, Spain) on the fourth court, 6-1, 6-3. No. 121 Ferguson answered with a quick straight-set victory over No. 124 Zdenek Derkas, 6-2, 6-1, on the top court.
 
Johannes Seeman tied the match for Fresno State with a court three win over Luquet, 6-4, 6-2. It marked the first time this season the Bulls had given up two courts. Yatsuk regained USF's lead with a court five win against Cagatay Soke in straight sets, 7-6 (5), 6-4.
 
With USF ahead, 3-2, attention focused on courts two and six, where Jakub Wojcik (Delray Beach, Fla.) and Rithvik Bollipalli (Hyderabad, India) marched on. Despite dropping his first set against Angus Bradshaw, 4-6, Wojcik fought hard to win the second, 6-3, and force a third. The senior clinched the match for USF with a 6-4 victory.
 
Quotable
Head coach Ashley Fisher on defeating Fresno State:
"We are pleased to have gotten through today, but we know we need to compete better top to bottom to continue growing and giving ourselves the best chance. Some incredible individual performances today from Chase and Kuba [Wojcik] as they continue investing."
 
…on matchups tomorrow:
"Tomorrow we will demand more from ourselves in terms of body language and self-talk and we have to be willing to show more belief."
 
Up Next
 
Saturday's win advanced South Florida to the second round of the ITA Kickoff Tournament, where if will face No. 2 Florida or Temple on Sunday (time TBD).
 
 
Scouting the Gators
 
No. 2 Florida hosts the ITA Kickoff Weekend for the fourth consecutive year, led by Bryan Shelton in his eighth year at the helm. The Gators come off an impressive 2019 season that included an undefeated conference record and an NCAA semifinals appearance.
 
Florida has three top 50 singles players, including No. 4 Sam Riffice (3-1), No. 17 Duarte Vale (4-1) and No. 31 Oliver Crawford (2-1).
 
The Gators hold a 10-1 overall record in dual doubles action, with the pairs of Oliver Crawford/Sam Riffice and Duarte Vale/Josh Goodger both undefeated, 2-0.
 
Florida leads the overall series with USF, 49-3, after a 4-0 victory in January 2018, when the teams last met in Gainesville.
 
 
 
Scouting the Owls
 
Temple opens its season against No. 2 Florida in the first round of the ITA Kickoff Weekend. Steve Mauro returns for his 15^th season as head coach of the Owls after leading the team to a 16-7 record in 2019.
 
Historically, USF leads the series, 2-0, with the most recent win coming last April at the American Athletic Conference Tournament, 4-1.
 
 
 
 
 
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