Three capture wins for Tech tennis team at final day of Wake Forest Fall Invitational

Sunday 11/10 RECAP

By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – A trio of Golden Eagles earned victories for the Tennessee Tech tennis team on the third and final day of action at the Wake Forest Fall Invitational Sunday.

Sophomore Lucca Silva captured the E Singles Bracket championship with a victory over Mercer's Lucas Gueymard in straight sets. Silva worked for a 6-3 win in set one before triumphing over Gueymard with a 6-4, second-set W.

Taking part in the D Singles North Consolation Bracket Final, Fanis Kontopoulos fought tooth-and-nail and scrapped his way to a victory over Radford's Rodrigo Magalhaes. The Tech senior claimed set one, 6-2, but saw his opponent even the match with a 6-3 set two win. Kontopoulos finished on top, in the end, laboring to a 7-6 (5) win in set 3 for the victory.

Participating in an extra singles match was sophomore Rafael Tosetto. Squaring off with Radford's Yevhen Sirous, the Golden Eagles worked quickly through set one for a 6-1 win. He finished things off in the second set, 6-4.

The Tech tandem of Elias Grubert and Marc Mila dropped a heartbreaker in the C Doubles Bracket Championship tilt, falling at the hands of Wofford's Lucas Cerbelli and Diego Losada, 6-4.

Competing in the C Singles North Consolation Bracket Final, Riku Kubota eventually retired his match-up with Charlotte's Henry Lieberman after falling in the first set 6-0.

Saturday 11/9 RECAP

By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Three Golden Eagles advanced to the championships of their respective brackets to help highlight what was an overall tough outing for the Tennessee Tech tennis team in the second day of the Wake Forest Fall Invitational.

Lucca Silva claimed a semifinal win in the E Singles Bracket, and the Tech tandem of Elias Grubert and Marc Mila also championed a nod in the semifinals C Doubles Bracket, but those would be the only draped in purple and gold to secure a victory in a non-consolation bracket battle.

Riku Kubota did collect a 3-6, 6-3, 1-0 win over Stetson's Sven Thiergard after Kubota initially dropped a 7-5, 6-2 decision to Radford's Andres Silva in the C Singles Bracket.

Silva will battle for the E Singles Bracket title after winning his third match of the weekend with a straight-set, 7-5, 6-3, victory against Mercer's David Georgadze in the semifinal bout. Silva will face fellow Mercer Bear, Lucas Gueymard, in Sunday's final.

Grubert and Carlos Vicente were unable to mirror Silva's semifinal success, as the pair each dropped their respective B Bracket battles. Grubert fell in three sets, 2-6, 6-2, 6-4, to Clemson's Jacob Jahn, a similar fate for Vicente with a three-set, 6-4, 4-6, 6-1, loss to another Clemson Tiger in the form of Carlos Kelaidis. The two defeats sets the stage for a Grubert-Vicente showdown in Sunday's consolation bracket.

Fanis Kontopoulos suffered a defeat in the D Singles Bracket with a 6-2, 7-6(3) loss at the hands of Coastal Carolina's Daiki Tanabe. Rafael Tosetto was upended twice in the A2 Singles Bracket with an initial 6-1, 6-3 loss to Melios Efstathiou of Wake Forest, before the Golden Eagle sophomore fell, 6-4, 6-3, to Kentucky's Cesar Bourgois.

Marc Mila rounded out Tech's singles showing with a three-set, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, loss to Stetson's Alexandre Hillhouse. The TTU senior will continue the tournament on Sunday with a meeting against Davidson's William Clark.

Despite the tough singles performance, Mila teamed up with Elias Grubert to soar to a 6-1 victory over Campbell's Fernando Clemente and Noe Macquart in the C Doubles Bracket semifinals. The Tech duo will greet Wofford's Lucas Cerbelli and Diego Losada in Sunday's championship match at 8 a.m. CT.

Riku Kubota and Lucca Silva's semifinal clash in the B1 Doubles bracket went south with a 6-2 loss to Yuval Solomon and Matthew Thomson out of Wake Forest. Kubota and Silva will attempt to finish strong behind a Sunday clash against Radford's Andres Silva and Dimosthenis Taramonlis at 8 a.m.  

Rafael Tosetto and Carlos Vicente were unable to get past Campbell's Raphael Calzi and Bastien Huon in the A2 Consolation bracket with a 7-5 loss, but the Golden Eagle tandem will have a chance to close out the tournament strong with a Sunday meeting against Davidson's Axel Fries and Douglas Macintosh. First serve is slated for 8 a.m.

Friday 11/8 RECAP

By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The Tennessee Tech tennis team began its final fall event of the season in grand fashion, as the Golden Eagles went a combined 10-1 during singles play in the opening day of the Wake Forest Fall Invitational.

All seven Tech players claimed at least one victory during singles action, while three Golden Eagles secured a pair of nods to help TTU reach double digits in the wins department. The Golden Eagles also found success during doubles play to the tune of wins in two of the squad's three battles.

Elias Grubert pushed his way to the final four of the B Singles Bracket with wins over Clemson's Pierre-Louis Dodens (7-6, 7-5, 6-0) and Charlotte's Constandinos Christoforou (6-4, 6-1). Grubert will attempt to take down a second Clemson Tiger with a matchup against Jacob Jahn in Saturday's semifinal at 11:45 a.m. CT.

Carlos Vicente mirrored Grubert's B Singles Bracket showing with his own pair of wins to advance to the semifinals. Vicente started his Friday with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Richmond's George Lovitt, before topping Georgia State's Andrei Duarte with a 7-6 (4), 6-3 triumph in the quarterfinals. Vicente will meet Clemson's Carlos Kelaidis at 11:45 a.m. to compile the other part of an all Tech-Clemson final four.

Lucca Silva joined Grubert and Vicente as Tech's trio to advance to the semifinals of their respective brackets with back-to-back wins in the E Singles Bracket. Silva secured a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Clemson's Jaxon Wiley in the first round, before moving to the semifinals after defeating Davidson's Brooks Green 6-1 in the first set, prior to Green retiring with Silva leading 1-0 in the second. Silva will connect with Mercer's David Georgadze in the semis on Saturday at 10:30 a.m.

Marc Mila's bid at a semifinals appearance went begging with a 6-2, 2-6, 4-6 loss to Georgia State's Patrick Lazo in the quarterfinals of the E Singles Bracket, but Mila started off his afternoon with a straight-set, 6-4, 6-0 win over Wofford's Callum Rendle.

Rafael Tosetto , Riku Kubota and Fanis Kontopoulos will all appear in the quarterfinals of their brackets after first-round triumphs. Tosetto picked up a 7-6 (3), 6-3 nod over Duke's Omni Kumar in the A2 Singles Bracket, while Kubota notched a 6-3, 6-3 triumph over Davidson's Axel Fries in the C Singles Bracket and Kontopoulos collected a 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 victory over Stetson's Christian Mills in the D Singles Bracket.

Tosetto will square off with Melios Efstathiou in Saturday's quarters in the first of Tech's three quarterfinal matchups at 10:30 a.m. Kubota will clash with Radford's Andres Silva and Kontopoulos will say hello to Coastal Carolina's Daiki Tanabe to round out Tech's quarterfinal showings.

As far as doubles action is concerned, the Golden Eagles claimed a pair of wins in the tournament's first day. After earning a first-round bye, Elias Grubert and Marc Mila topped Radford's Will Crane and Karl Katlaps behind a 6-2 win in the C Doubles Bracket, while Riku Kubota and Lucca Silva took down North Carolina's Mark Dillon and Ladd Harrison with a 6-4 victory in the B1 Doubles Bracket.

Kubota and Silva will square off against Yuval Solomon and Matthew Thomson out of Wake Forest on Saturday at 8:30 a.m. in the bracket's semifinals. Grubert and Mila will greet Campbell's Fernando Clemente and Noe Macquart in a semifinal get-together on Saturday at 9 a.m.

Rafael Tosetto and Carlos Vicente fell 6-4 to Clemson's Gabriel Diaz Freire and Yizhou Liu in Friday's first-round doubles clash. The duo will greet Campbell's Raphael Calzi and Bastien Huon in the consolation bracket's first round at 8 a.m.

Photo by Tony Marable