Irish were unstoppable in Lakewood Ranch, FL this past weekend at the Dick Vitale Clay Court Invitational. Four men’s tennis players were sent to the Invitational to compete in both singles and doubles play.
Axel Nefve and William Howells were the powerhouse duo throughout the Invitational; dominating their competition in doubles play. In the first round, they defeated Dabek/Durham of Navy 8-4 on Friday morning. In the quarterfinals, Irish defeated Beaty/Brown of Michigan 8-7(4) to advance. Irish were down 4-1 in the tiebreaker and won 6 straight points to win the match. In the semifinals, Berdusco/Andrade of Florida fell to the Irish duo 8-7(5). In the finals on Sunday morning, Nefve and Howells outplayed Salle/Hernandez of Louisville 8-5 and secured the doubles title.
Axel Nefve also went on to the consolation singles finals after a major comeback from losing his first match in the main draw to Ivan Yatsuk of USF 5-6, 6-2. In the first round of the singles consolation draw, Nefve beat Cacciatore of Florida 6-1, 6-4. In the second round, Thongoana of FSU fell to Nefve 6-2, 6-1. On Saturday morning, Nefve outsmarted Salle of Louisville 6-3, 6-4 to advance to the finals on Sunday morning. Nefve won it all after defeating Heller of Duke 6-3, 7-6(6) in the finals of the singles consolation draw.
Johnathan small and Conor Somers also competed in the Invitational. They were paired up as doubles partners but were unsuccessful in the first round. Both men were also unable to secure a win in the first round of singles play in order to advance.
ITA National Fall Championships commence on November 6 in Newport Beach, CA. Richard Ciamarra will participate in singles and doubles with Tristan McCormick as his partner.