USF Athletics

Bulls Prepare For Ranked Matches At Home

March 12, 2021

MATCHUP: Georgia State at South Florida; Samford at South Florida; SMU at South Florida; TCU at South Florida

WHEN: Saturday, March 13 at 10:00 a.m.; Saturday, March 13 at 2:00 p.m.; Sunday, March 14 at 2:00 p.m.; Monday, March 15 at 1:30 p.m.

LOCATION: Tampa, Fla.

STATS: https://bit.ly/3qpGihw

 

TAMPA, March 12, 2021 – The University of South Florida men's tennis team continues its series at home for four matches in three days. No. 34 Bulls are looking to extend their home record to 6-0 against formidable opponents.

 

USF is fresh off a home-win against Liberty, 4-3. Currently, the Bulls are on a five-match win streak with a 7-2 overall record.

 

Scouting Georgia State

The Panthers (4-4) stay on the road after defeating North Florida, 5-2. Head Coach Jonathan Wolff continues his fourth season at Georgia State. 

 

Georgia State gained the lead early after wins in doubles from No. 30 Andrei Duarte and Roberts Grinvalds, 6-4, and Kevin Huynh and Harvey Maughan, 7-6. Maughan's 6-1, 6-1 and Valhalla Shubladze's 6-2, 6-2 success put the Panthers within one point of the match. Huynh secured the competition during his first singles appearance in a 6-4, 6-4 win. Duarte's victory (3-6, 6-2, 6-3) extended the lead to three. 

 

Historically, the Bulls are 5-2 against the Panthers. The last matchup resulted in a 7-0 contest in favor of the Bulls.

 

Scouting Samford

The Bulldogs (6-5) recently swept Bellarmine 7-0. Head Coach Rahim Esmail continues his tenth season at Samford with a 103-86 record overall. 

 

Court one doubles team Victor Chaw and Jim Hendrix remain undefeated in doubles play after their 6-2 win. Duo Tomas Santantonio and Elado Fabregas clinched the point in their own 6-2 success. In the singles competition, wins on all six courts from Rossouw Norval, Chaw, Fabregas, Hendrix, Santantonio, and Mohammed Ali Bellalounda secured the win for the Bulldogs. 

 

Saturday's match will be the first between the two teams. 

 

Scouting SMU

The No. 50 Mustangs (12-7) recently defeated Lamar, 4-1. Head Coach Grant Chen continues his third season with SMU. 

 

SMU earned the doubles point after Liam Krall and Caleb Chakravarthi topped their opponents 6-4. They were followed by teammates Juan Jose Bianchi and Tomas Vaise 7-6(5) tiebreak. Heading into singles with the advantage, wins from Julian Steinhausen, 6-3, 6-4, and Jan-Simon Vrbsky, 6-3, 6-3, put the Mustangs within one of clinching the match. The final point from Vaise (7-5, 6-4) secured the victory. 

 

USF is looking to avenge last year's 2-5 loss against the Mustangs and increase the series lead to 7-2.

 

Scouting TCU

The No. 5 Horned Frogs (8-3) last match against No. 23 Pepperdine resulted in a 4-2 finish. Head Coach David Roditi continues his eleventh season with TCU.

 

TCU secured the doubles point after successes from No. 24 Sander Jong and Tadeas Paroulek, 6-1, and Jacob Fearnley and Bertus Kruger, 6-1. In their three-hour singles play, No. 47 Luc Fomba defeated his opponent 6-4, 4-6, 7-5. Tomas Jirousik placed the Horned Frogs within one after his 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 win. No. 113 Sander Jong bounced back from a second-set loss to clinch the match, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2. 

 

The Bulls are looking to snap their 0-6 losing streak against the Horned Frogs.

 

Quotable

Head coach Ashley Fisher on this weekend….

"We have always enjoyed playing a lot of tennis in March and are a team that plays better the more we play. We love being in tough situations and the next three days will provide that environment. It's a great test and we will see what we are made of."

 

About Men's Tennis 

Be sure to follow USF men's tennis on social media (Twitter / Facebook / Instagram) and visit GoUSFBulls.com for the most up-to-date information.?Head coach?Ashley Fisher?will begin his fifth year at the helm of the program for the 2021 season. 

– #GoBulls –