The struggles of Texas A&M men’s tennis seem to be a thing of the past. A&M defeated Arkansas in its conference opener on Friday, March 4 to win its second game of the day after previously defeating Incarnate Word. The victories ended A&M’s five-game losing streak and improved its season record to 8-5.
The maroon and white got off to an uneven start in doubles play against the Razorbacks. Junior Noah Schachter and sophomore Kenner Taylor picked up an easy 6-1 victory for A&M against seniors Nico Rousset and Alex Reco, but losses in the remaining two matches allowed the Razorbacks to clinch the doubles point.
In singles play, A&M turned over a new leaf to take control of the match. A&M picked up straight-set victories from sophomore Raphael Perot, sophomore Matthis Ross and junior Guido Marson to build a 3-1 advantage against Arkansas.
The Aggies clinched their first victory in SEC play behind a straight-set win from freshman Giulio Perego against freshman Jacob Sweeney. Arkansas picked up a pair of inconsequential wins on the remaining two courts to give A&M the 4-3 victory.
Perego said being prepared led to his pivotal performance against the Razorbacks.
“[Winning] was an unbelievable feeling,” Perego said. “I came here without knowing if I would [be] playing, and I put in all this hard work. Obviously, we are not coming off the best period after we had a good start, so it was huge to get this win at home. It was so important for the guys because at the end it came down to my point. It is nice to have my team support me and [have] coaches that believe in me. I just played to the best of my ability today. I gave it my all and obviously paid off at the end.”
A&M coach Steve Denton said A&M did a better job of winning some of the matches’ most important points and fighting through some early adversity against Arkansas.
“That was a big, big match for our team to start the SEC season, and especially after losing a tough doubles point,” Denton said. “I thought our guys bounced back really well in the singles and showed a lot of determination tonight. We have been kind of harping on the big points, and I thought we did a good job there tonight. I thought our guys really wanted that win tonight and really fought hard. I am really pleased with the effort and happy that our team was able to be rewarded for a good week of practice, rewarded for believing in themselves tonight and playing a really, really tough Arkansas team.”
A&M returns to non-conference play for a home doubleheader against UT Arlington and No. 13 Texas on Wednesday, March 9. First serve for the former is set for 11 a.m., while the latter is set for 6 p.m.