Keiser men's tennis competed on their second day at the ITA Cup in Rome, Georgia. The men went 0-2 in singles play and 0-1 in doubles on the day.
Both
Soufiane El Mesbahi and
Shaheed Alam got off to strong starts in their matches taking the first set. Facing No. 1 Nicolas Cortes of Tennessee Wesleyan, Alam dropped the second set 4-6 and was topped in the final set by a score of 5-7. El Mesbahi would go back and forth with his opponent, Malik Omarkhanov of Northwestern Ohio who took the second set 7-5. A battle for the third set would end with Omarkhanov coming out on top once again 7-5 and taking the match. In the afternoon doubles match, the pair fell behind early in the first set 0-4. They went on to rally back, but the deficit was too much to overcome. The second set would have a familiar site and once again, they would bring the match back to 4-5, but Dragan Omcikus and Luca Ebenriter from Missouri Baptist would finish the match in the next game.
Director of Tennis
Daniel Finn said, "Honestly, today, it came down to mentality. Both guys did a great job and were locked in early on and the scores were showing, but a few things didn't go well, and they got negative, and we fought ourselves more than the opponent. From there, things just snowballed. The guys fought and competed until the end, but during the pressure moments of the match, they were way too passive, and it cost us the matches today. In doubles, it all came down to the slow, sloppy starts that they couldn't overcome. You can't expect to get down 3-0 in each set and try to climb your way back into the match. Again, just like in singles, I thought that they both competed hard and tried to fight their way back into the situation, but in the end, the lackadaisical start really cost them in doubles. As for tomorrow, it's just another day and an opportunity to fight and compete. The boys know that and will do better tomorrow ."
Shaheed Alam
Rd. 16: Def. Vaclav Schneider (7-6(5), 6-1)
QF: Lost to (1) Nicolas Cortes (TWU) (6-3, 4-6, 5-7)
bd: Vs. Jan Silhavy (LWC)
Soufiane El Mesbahi
Rd. 16: Def. (2) Alex Gurmendi (GGC) (6-4, 6-1)
QF: Lost to Malik Omarkhanov (UNOH) (6-1, 5-7, 5-7)
bd: Vs. Kyllian Savary (OLL)
Alam/El Mesbahi
Rd. 16: Def. (3) Mueller/Veyhle (Westcliff) (4-6, 7-5, 10-4)
QF: Lost to Omcikus/Ebenriter (MoBap) (4-6, 4-6)
bd: Vs. (2) Cortes/Volpi (TWU)
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