Men’s Tennis
Irish put on solid showing at ITA Kickoff
Observer Sports Staff | Tuesday, January 28, 2020
The Notre Dame men’s tennis team traveled to Fort Wort, Texas, over the weekend to compete in the ITA Kickoff. While the Irish fell in their first match-up against Arizona (5-1), they would go on to defeat Florida Atlantic and claim the consolation title.
The Irish (2-2) started off hot in doubles against Arizona (5-1), taking the doubles point with victories on both court one and court two.
Ann Curtis | The Observer Junior Tristan McCormick and sophomore Axel Nefve dispatched junior Carlos Hassey and sophomore Jonas Ziverts by a score of 6-3. No. 5-ranked junior Richard Ciamarra and senior Matt Gamble required a tie-break to settle their match, winning 7-6 (7-5) over junior Igor Karpovets and junior Filip Malbasic.
In singles play, however, the Irish struggled against the Wildcats, losing four out of the six matches.
Ciamarra fell in straight sets 2-6, 1-6 to No. 61 Jonas Ziverts. Notre Dame tied the match at 2-2 when junior William Howells beat Karpovets by the score of 6-4, 6-3. The Irish put up a good fight as the match was decided by the winner of the last two singles matches.
Ultimately, No. 102 Axel Nefve fell to No. 36 Malbasic 4-6, 4-6, giving the Wildcats a 4-2 win.
Notre Dame then set their sights on Florida Atlantic (2-5) in the consolation title match in which the Irish breezed past the Owls, winning 4-0.
Once again, the No. 2 and No. 1 doubles squads of Notre Dame helped to secure the doubles point with McCormick and Nefve winning over junior Maxime Lapraille and freshman Filip Frolo 6-3 as well as Ciamarra and Gamble winning 6-0 over junior Jason Legall and freshman Yovan Lambros.
The Irish had no trouble in singles play as well, winning three matches to earn the clean sweep. Nefve defeated No. 58 Lapraille 7-5, 6-1. Freshman Connor Fu won his match by the same score-line, winning 7-5, 6-1 over Lambros. William Howells rounded out the singles victories, winning 6-1, 6-3 over freshman Gerard Escandell.
The Irish now set their sights on Saturday, when they will travel to Bloomington to take on in-state rival Indiana University. Doubles play is set for 3 p.m. at the IU Tennis Center.
