BONITA SPRINGS, FL- The FGCU Men's Tennis team went toe to toe with teams from the SEC, BIG 10, ACC, and the American this weekend as they co-hosted the FineMark/FGCU Collegiate Open at Bonita Bay Club. The Eagles played close against several players from Arkansas and Kentucky on Friday, again went punch for punch with players from Louisville and Illinois on Saturday, and ended the weekend with a dominating effort against several Memphis players to close out the weekend.
"From the competition side of things, I am really encouraged by my team's effort this weekend" head coach
CJ Weber said. "We hosted some very stiff competition, and the guys handled themselves extremely well and we competed our best of the last day, which is always pleasing to see as a coach that we perform our best at the end of events. Marcelo (Tebet) had a great breakthrough event; and his only loss was against one of Memphis's top players. He, and all of the players, have been so open minded to grow and develop and learn new things about themselves. This is a special group of guys; and I'm really looking forward to seeing what this team has in store for the spring season!"
The Eagles opened the weekend against players from Arkansas and Kentucky. Things went FGCU's way in doubles action as they took three of four matches. The dynamic duo of
Felipe Ramirez (Armenia, Colombia/Florida Virtual School) and
Feliksas Sakalauskas (Palanga, Lithuania/Virginia Tech) knocked off Kevin Humpfner and Fabian Penzkofer 6-4 for the Eagles first win.
Nicholas Tibaudin (Buenos Aires, Argentina) and
Felipe Escobar (Pereira, Colombia/TCU) matched that 6-4 score in their contest against Parth Aggarwai and Enrique Paya for another Eagle victory. The third FGCU combo to earn a victory in pairs play was
Juan Montes (Pereira, Colombia) and
Marcelo Tebet (Londrina, Brazil/Colegio Anglo Americano) who downed Adam Sanjuro and Enrique Paya 6-3 to give the Green and Blue victories in three of four doubles tilts.
The singles action between the two was tightly contested with three matches going to third sets. Despite the back and forth play, the only Eagle to secure a singles win was Tebet, who knocked off Aggarwai in straight sets 6-3, 6-3. Montes, Tibaudin, and
Ezequiel Cerrini (Buenos Aires, Argentina) all took sets, but eventually lost in third set breakers.
FGCU VS. ARKANSAS/KENTUCKY FULL RESULTS
On Saturday the Green and Blue saw more Power 5 competition across the net as they battled players from from Illinois and Louisville. Ramirez and Sakalauskas continued their tear at #1 doubles, taking down Vuk Budic and Gui Gomez 6-1 for an Eagle win. The Cardinals and Illini players took the other two doubles matches by counts of 6-4 and 6-2.
The match of the day came between Montes and Budic as they battled back and forth, going the distance in each set before Budic was able to come out on top of a highly entertaining 7-6, 6-2 final. Tebet picked up his second win in as many tries as he took down Gomez in convincing fashion 6-3, 6-3.
Javier Fernandez (Ibiza, Spain) held on for a 6-4, 7-5 decision for the Eagles third triumph. However, in the end, FGCU would come up just short as the Louisville and Illinois players found two more wins in singles play to finish off the match.
FGCU VS. ILLINOIS/LOUISVILLE FULL RESULTS
The Eagles took advantage of a beautiful Southwest Florida fall afternoon to wrap up the weekend strong on Sunday as they battled Memphis. Ramirez and Sakalauskas closed out a 3-0 weekend with a 6-2 doubles win and Tebet and Cerrini did the same to secure a pair of victories for the Eagles.
Montes took a 6-3, 6-7, 10-8 decision as did Fernandez in a 7-6, 6-4 final. They didn't stop there though as Ruiz won 6-4, 6-1 and Cerrini, and Escobar breezed to victory at the bottom of the lineup to finish off dominating wins for the Eagles.
FGCU VS. MEMPHIS FULL RESULTS
"This was simply put just an incredible weekend of competition for all involved in the tournament" Weber said. "Bonita Bay could not have done a better job at hosting the tournament and making it a world class event. I'm anticipating this tournament to grow in reputation, and be one of the featured fall tournaments around the country! I couldn't be more appreciative of our supportive community to all our players to be a part of something so special."
The Eagles will wrap up their fall campaign this weekend in Lakewood Ranch when they compete in the Dick Vitale Invitational beginning on Friday.
FOLLOW ALONG
For complete coverage of FGCU men's tennis follow us on Twitter & Instagram @FGCU_MTEN and visit www.FGCUAthletics.com where full recaps and results will be available at the end of each day of competition.
CJ WEBER
FGCU is led by
CJ Weber who has coached 29 ASUN All-Conference selections since joining the Green and Blue in 2011. In his seventh year, Weber has compiled a 83-68 (.549) overall record and a 32-17 (.694) record in ASUN play. In 2014-15, Weber guided the Eagles to their first-ever ASUN Championship and first-ever ASUN Regular Season title after a program-best 17 wins. In his third season, Weber led Jordi Vives to a No. 35 national ranking, a nation-leading 14-match unbeaten streak and the round of 32 in the 2014 NCAA Tournament - the program's first appearance. The Eagles completed consecutive perfect ASUN seasons in 2016 and back-to-back conference titles as well as a second-straight Coach of the Year honor for Weber. FGCU again won the ASUN Championship in 2017, advancing to its second NCAA Tournament.
#FEEDFGCU
FGCU Athletics sponsors events throughout the year to benefit the FGCU Campus Food Pantry (www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry) and the Harry Chapin Food Bank (www.harrychapinfoodbank.org), FGCU Athletics' charities of choice. For more information, including how to make a contribution, please visit www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.
