ATHENS, Georgia – Texas A&M junior Jordi Arconada advanced at the 2017 NCAA Men’s Tennis Singles Championship Wednesday afternoon, defeating Filip Vittek of San Diego, while junior Arthur Rinderknech fell to Borno Gojo of Wake Forest. Rinderknech and AJ Catanzariti will begin play at the NCAA Doubles Championship, Thursday, against Charlie Emhardt and Jeffrey Schorsch of Valparaiso.
The singles and doubles competition will take place May 24-29 at the Dan Magill Complex in Athens, Georgia, hosted by the University of Georgia.
No. 48 Arconada raced out to a 5-1 advantage in the first set before No. 93 Vittek was forced to retire due to injury. The Buenos Aires, Argentina native, will take on No. 12 Florian Lakat of California or No. 22 Ronnie Schneider of North Carolina Thursday for a place in the Round of 16. Arconada has picked up a career-best seven wins against ranked opponents this year, including wins over then-No. 26 Jose Salazar of Arkansas and No. 32 Wayne Montgomery of Georgia. Arconada has improved his win total each season in Aggieland, earning 10 victories as a freshman, 20 as a sophomore and 22 as a junior.
Rinderknech took an early advantage in his singles match, breaking Gojo twice in the first set, going on to win the first set 6-2 before dropping the final two sets, 6-4, 6-3. The junior finished his singles season at 27-9 to lead the Aggies in singles wins for the second straight season. Currently ranked as the nation’s No. 6 singles player, Rinderknech was named to the SEC All-Tournament team for the third consecutive season, helping the Aggies advance to the SEC Tournament semifinals for the fifth straight year. The Paris, France native was named the No. 4 seed in the singles bracket, confirming Rinderknech’s inclusion on the singles All-American team for the second straight year.
Rinderknech and Catanzariti will open the doubles bracket Thursday against No. 41 Emhardt and Schorsch of Valparaiso. The duo earned a season-high No. 9 ranking in the latest ITA doubles poll after compiling an 8-3 mark over the past two months. The junior pair are currently one of the hottest doubles teams in the country, going from unranked to the Top-10 in in just over two months after compiling a 6-1 against ranked tandems including wins over then No. 2 Robert Loeb and Jan Zeilinski of Georgia and No. 9 Trevor Foshey and Niclaus Braun of Mississippi State.
The Texas A&M duo earned a national seed in the upcoming doubles tournament to earn them All-America honors. Rinderknech earned his second straight All-American honor in doubles after advancing to the NCAA Doubles Championship final alongside Jackson Withrow last season, while the 2017 honor is the first in Catanzariti’s career.
Visit 12thMan.com for more information on Texas A&M men’s tennis. Aggie fans also can keep up to date with the A&M men’s tennis team on Twitter by following @AggieMTEN or on Facebook at Facebook.com/AggieMensTennis.
Post Match Quote
Jordi Arconada, Texas A&M junior
On the match…
“I felt pretty good out there today, a couple deuce points went my way. I hate to see a guy go down with an injury, but I am excited to play either [Florian] Lakat or [Ronnie] Schneider tomorrow.”
NCAA Singles Championship Results
First Round
No. 45 Borna Gojo (WF) def. No. 6 Arthur Rinderknech (Texas A&M) 2-6, 6-4, 6-3
No. 48 Jordi Arconada (Texas A&M) def. No. 93 Filip Vittek (San Diego) 5-1, ret.
Second Round
No. 48 Arconada (Texas A&M) vs. No. 12 Florian Lakat (Cal)/No. 22 Ronnie Schneider (UNC)
NCAA Doubles Championship
First Round
No. 9 Catanzariti/Rinderknech (Texas A&M) vs. No. 41 Charlie Emhardt/Jeffrey Schorsch (Valpo)
Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics