The Texas A&M doubles tandem of Jeremy Efferding and Jordan Szabo were not expected to be in the main draw of the ITA Men’s All-American Championship after being knocked out in final-round qualifying action by a Vanderbilt team.
However, the ITA preseason ranked No. 23 Efferding and Szabo were granted special exemption, along with a few other teams, to continue their run for the championship.
Efferding and Szabo, both seniors, took advantage of their opportunity by knocking off three higher-ranked doubles teams en route to a semifinals appearance. Their run came to a halt in semifinals action when No. 19 Yannick Hanfmann and Roberto Quiroz from the University of Southern California defeated them 6-1, 6-4. Efferding and Szabo concluded the tournament 5-2 in doubles play.
A.J. Catanzariti, the freshman who had won seven consecutive singles matches and, with sophomore Max Lunkin, won three consecutive doubles matches to qualify for those respective main draws, did not survive the first round of either bracket.
In singles, No. 11 Harrison Adams was upset by No. 39 Jonny Wang from the University of Southern California in the first round while No. 15 Shane Vinsant lost in the second round to No. 40 Andrew Harris of Oklahoma.
The A&M men’s tennis team does not play again until Oct. 18, when it will make its home debut as it hosts ITA Regionals at the Mitchell Tennis Center.