The A&M men’s and women’s tennis fall season came to a close this past weekend. The men’s team sent sophomore Arthur Rinderknech to compete in the ITA National Indoor Championships after he qualified, and the women’s team competed in the Fall Rebel Invite.
The National Indoor Championships is a tournament hosted by Columbia University that culminates all the elite talent from around the country to compete in a 32-player singles draw and a 20-team doubles draw. Rinderknech made a splash on day one of the Nationals at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center with a first round victory over Dovydas Sakinis of Dartmouth on Thursday in straight sets with a score of 6-3, 6-4. The victory marked his seventh straight set win this fall and allowed him to advance to a second round match against Austin Smith of Georgia.
Rinderknech won the round two match also in straight sets by a score of 6-3, 7-6(5), extending his streak to nine straight set victories and propelling him to the quarterfinals against Andre Goransson of Cal on Friday. Rinderknech ended up losing the quarterfinal match to Goransson by a score of 6-2, 7-5, which ended his streak and his fall season. With this tournament in the books, Rinderknech finished with an impressive 13-2 fall record going into the spring season. 
For the Rebel Invite at the Fertitta Tennis Complex at UNLV, the women’s team featured junior Rachel Pierson — who returned after being out with a wrist/forearm injury — along with fellow junior Saska Gavrilovska competing in singles. They were joined by senior Ines Deheza and freshman Dominica Gonzalez, who competed in singles and as a doubles team. Each girl competed in her own separate division, needing to win three matches in order to win that division. A first round loss would place them in a consolation match, while a second round loss would place them in a battle for third. 
In day one, the Aggies made a clean sweep in singles, including a 6-1, 6-3 win from Pierson, a 6-1, 6-1 win from Gavrilovska, a 6-1, 7-5 victory from Gonzalez and a 6-1, 6-3 win by Deheza to advance to the second round of play. In doubles, Deheza and Gonzalez came up short, suffering a 8-2 defeat, which placed them in a Sunday consolation match against Idaho where they lost 8-6 to end their doubles play for the fall season.
Gavrilovska was the only one to advance past the second and semifinal round, coming away with a 7-6, 6-0 victory over Sofiko Kadzhaya of TCU. Although Deheza fell short in the semifinals, she came away with a 6-0, 6-3 win to clinch third place in her division.In the third and final day, Gavrilovska came away with a 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 comeback victory to win her division over Jessica Failla of USC, ending her season on a high note going into the winter.
With another fall season under their belts, the men and women will take some time off to recover and get healthy before beginning their next season. With an SEC title and a bid for the NCAA tournament in their sights, all players will take this opportunity to improve individually in order to enter the spring season with an edge.