Men’s Tennis Responds To Tough Challenge From USA With 4-2 Win
Tallahassee, FL – After nearly a year off, the Seminoles needed a match like they had Friday night. The University of South Alabama came into Tallahassee and took the doubles point from the Seminoles and then jumped out to leads in numerous singles matches before the Noles came back. FSU was pushed but in the end, found a way to come back and secure a 4-2 win to move to 3-0 on the season.
“South Alabama played really well,” said Seminole Head Coach Dwayne Hultquist. “They have some guys that really smack the ball and I thought playing indoors was actually a little to their advantage. They quickly took the lead in doubles, got up a break on two and three and were able to hold on and get the doubles after we kind of climbed back in it.
“They got up early in the first sets in singles. I think it took our guys a while to get used to the pace of their serves and their forehands. We went down 3-0 at one, 3-0 on two and were down an early break at three. It was a battle. They are a very good team. They are an NCAA team. With us being without Alex (Knaff) and Rana (Singh Bullar), I thought it was a great win for us.”
The Jaguars started strong taking the doubles point 2-0. Then Loris Pourroy fell behind 3-0 on court one. Marcus Walters, who cruised to a 6-1 win in the first set, then was pushed to a third after falling 6-1 in the second.
While the Seminoles were fighting on one, two and three, Andreja Petrovic and Enzo Le Seguillon were boosting the Noles hopes on four and six. Le Seguillon was first off with a 6-4, 6-3 win and Petrovic ground out a 7-6 first set win and then closed out his match at 6-4. Pourroy staged a furious comeback from 0-3 down to a 6-4, 7-5 win in between those two points. With the Seminoles up 3-2, Walters clinched the win taking his third set 6-4.
“We put Enzo in and I thought he was good today. He was the first one off. He helped us create some momentum,” said Hultquist. “Andy continues to impress us and did well with a tough straight set win. Loris is pretty much good every day. He got us a straight set win and then Marcus clinched it. Marcus came up pretty clutch in the third set comfortably serving it out at 5-4.”
The Seminoles will now go on the road to face one of the biggest challenges of the season in Athens, GA. The Seminoles will try to turn Friday’s hard fought win into an upset of the No. 10 Bulldogs Sunday at noon. For more information on the 2020-21 Seminole Men’s Tennis program, please follow us on social at FSUMTennis (IG) and @FSU_MTennis (TW) and log on to Seminoles.com.
