The Texas A&M men’s tennis team began its 2024 fall campaign by traveling to the Waco Regional Tennis Center, as four Aggies competed at the Waco Fall Kickoff Classic. The Maroon and White were placed in a 34-player group that included competitors from Baylor, Oklahoma State, LSU, Texas, TCU, Texas Tech, UTSA and Tulsa. In singles play, all players were separated into four different brackets (Silver, White, Gold, Green). In doubles play, teams were split up into two brackets (Indy, Belle). The three-day tournament lasted from Friday, Sept. 13 to Sunday, Sept. 15.
Day one
Beginning with singles on day one, The Aggies’ sophomore Lathan Skrobarcek, who was placed as the No.2 seed in the silver bracket, took down LSU’s sophomore Charles Hobbes in a one-sided two sets, 6-1, 6-0, to advance to the silver bracket semi-finals.
Moving on to the white bracket, Texas Tech’s senior Takeyasu Sekiguchi got the better of A&M’s junior Ethan Silva in the first round as he won in straight sets, 4-6, 2-6.
Texas A&M sophomore Tiago Pires, was ranked No.1 in the gold bracket, and took down LSU’s freshman Jamie Diack in a close two-set contest, 6-4, 6-4.
The Maroon and White’s senior JC Roddick who came in ranked No.1 in the green bracket was able to come back from a set down against TCU’s sophomore Julian Alonso to win in three sets, 1-6, 6-2, 6-1, and advance to the green bracket semi-final.
Day two
Continuing day two with singles play, in the silver bracket semi-finals, Skrobarcek took out Baylor’s freshman Imran Daniel Abdul Hazli, 6-2, 6-4, to advance to the finals.
In the gold bracket, Pires continued to play like a No.1 seed as he defeated Texas Tech’s sophomore Felipe Pagnacco in straight sets, 6-1, 6-4, to advance to the gold bracket finals.
Roddick also continued to play strong in the green bracket as he got the better of Tulsa’s junior Timothy Carlsson Seger in three sets to advance to the green bracket finals, 6-2, 5-7, 6-3.
Moving onto doubles play, Skrobarcek and Roddick, who were the No.1 seed in the indy bracket, matched up against TCU’s sophomore Kaj Quirijns and Alonso. The Maroon and White showed no mercy as they demolished TCU’s duo to move onto the indy bracket semi-finals, 6-1.
In the semi-finals, Skrobarcek and Roddick took down the Bears duo of junior Quintan Van Wijk and senior Marko Miladinovic in a close tie-breaker to advance to the indy bracket finals, 7(7)-6(5).
Pires and Silva received a first round bye in the Belle bracket, allowing them to move straight to the semi-finals.
In the Belle bracket semi-finals, Pires and Silva showed why they were the No. 2 seed as they took down Texas Tech’s team of Sekiguchi and freshman Brody Nejedly-Krall to advance to the Belle bracket finals, 6-2.
On day two, the Aggies went undefeated in their seven matches, going a perfect 7-0.
Day three
Moving back to singles play on day three, Skrobarcek met Oklahoma State’s freshman Ian Bracks in the finals of the silver bracket but was downed in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3.
In the gold bracket, it was all Pires in the final as he gutted out a tough win over Miladinovic to capture his third straight-sets victory to sweep the gold bracket and capture the trophy, 7(8)-6(6), 6-3.
Roddick, who made his way to the green bracket final, decided to withdraw and not play, handing the victory to UTSA’s senior Tiago Torres.
Finishing with doubles play on day three, Skrobarcek and Roddick chose to withdraw from the indy finals, handing the victory to Tulsa’s sophomore Gus Tettamble and Seger.
Pires and Silva met Tulsa’s sophomore Alex Okonkwo and junior Reiya Komagata in the finals of the Belle bracket but were taken down in a close contest, 6-4.
The Aggies will be back in action when they travel to the Michael D. Case Tennis Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma to compete in the ITA All-American Championship from Saturday, Sept. 21- Sunday Sept. 29.
