The A&M men’s tennis team can do no wrong, as they finished the weekend with a 2-0 start in SEC play with wins over Florida and South Carolina.
In what seems to be becoming a force of habit, the team found themselves down early against No. 13 Florida after losing the doubles point to start the day. But this proved to not be an issue, as the Aggies seem to be very comfortable playing from behind.
Freshmen Hady Habib and Valentin Vacherot helped diminish the Gator’s initial 2-0 lead as they both took care of business in singles play.
Jordi Arconada once again stepped up in crunch-time, as he defeated Johannes Inglidsen 4-6, 7-6, 6-4. Arthur Rinderknech won his match as well, with an impressive win against No. 6 Alfredo Perez.
Head coach Steve Denton was impressed by his team’s performance, but is wary of his squad becoming overconfident.
“Last season we won the same type of early SEC match against Florida at our place and it was obvious that Florida got a lot better as they beat us and won the SEC tournament at the end of the season,” Denton said to 12thman.com.
Next up for the maroon and white was a Sunday matchup against the 19th-ranked Gamecocks in Columbia, South Carolina. Unlike in most of their matches this season, the Aggies jumped out to an early lead after winning the doubles point and they didn’t look back. Rinderknech and Arconada continued their dominance and ended both of their matches in two sets.
A&M has now won six-straight matches and sits atop the SEC standings.
The team returns to College Station this weekend for its SEC home opener. The Aggies face Vanderbilt at 6 p.m. Friday followed by a matchup against] Kentucky squad on Sunday at 1 p.m.
A day later on Monday the A&M women’s tennis team was swept and fell 4-0 against No. 1 Florida.
The Gators remained undefeated on the season, as the No. 20 Aggies fell to an 8-5 record after starting SEC play 0-2.
The maroon and white could not find any rhythm early on, as they dropped the doubles point to start the day. No. 14 Rachel Pierson and Rutuja Bhosale were defeated on the top court, followed by losses from Domenica Gonzalez and Eva Paalma.
The Gators continued to dominate in singles play, as they won four of the first six sets. There seemed to be a window of opportunity late for the Aggies, as all four courts came down to close games. But Brooke Austin clinched it for Florida over Tina Bokhua as a frustrating day for A&M came to an end.
Head coach Mark Weaver tried to look at the positives in an otherwise disappointing loss.
“Florida is the best team in the country,” Weaver said to 12thman.com. “I think there were some encouraging things out there today, we were neck and neck in four singles matches so we can take some positives away from this match.”
The Maroon and White hit the road and play Missouri on Friday night, followed by No. 17 Arkansas in Fayetteville on Sunday.