TULSA, Okla. – Texas A&M will be represented in the second round of both the women’s and men’s NCAA Division I Tennis Singles Championships as Saska Gavrilovska and Shane Vinsant both recorded first-round upsets today to advance. Texas A&M sophomore Arthur Rinderknech was not as fortunate, falling in his first-round match today at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center.
Gavrilovska, a junior from Serbia, opened the NCAA Women’s Singles Championship by upsetting No. 9-16 seed and ninth-ranked Stephanie Wagner of the University of Miami, 7-6 (8), 6-4. The victory, which equals Gavrilovska’s highest ranked win in 2015-16, avenges her Round of 16, three-set loss to the two-time All-American in last year’s NCAA tournament.
Gavrilovska, ranked a career-high No. 24 while making her third consecutive appearance in the prestigious tournament, improved to 20-10 and will face Southeastern Conference-foe and 33rd-ranked Arianne Hartono of Ole Miss in the second round on Thursday at 11 a.m. Gavrilovska defeated Hartono, 6-2, 6-1, during the regular season.
Vinsant, No. 52 in the ITA singles rankings, recorded his highest ranked win of the season and advanced by knocking off seventh-ranked Christopher Eubanks of Georgia Tech, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, in the first round of the NCAA Men’s Singles Championship. The senior from Keller, Texas, improved to 23-16 and will face 16th-ranked Jared Hilzik of Illinois in the second round on Thursday at 11:30 a.m. Vinsant is making his second appearance in the tournament, having reached the Round of 16 to earn All-America honors as a sophomore.
Rinderknech, a sophomore who was making his first appearance in the NCAA Singles Championship, retired trailing 13th-ranked Skander Mansouri of Wake Forest, 3-0, in the third set. Although eliminated from singles competition, Rinderknech will return to the courts to compete in the NCAA Doubles Championship. He and senior teammate Jackson Withrow will take on No. 4 Luca Corinteli and Ryan Shane of Virginia in the opening round on Thursday at 5 p.m.
Gavrilovska’s match was back on serve at 4-4 in the first set, and both players continued to hold serve to force a tiebreaker at 6-6. Neither player held more than a two-point lead in the tiebreaker, with Gavrilovska pulling away to win, 10-8.
Gavrilovska, who entered the match 16-1when winning a first set this season, won a no-ad point to break and go up 5-4 in the second set. Gavrilovska then held serve to win the second set, 6-4, and close out the straight-set victory.
Vinsant and Eubanks were on serve at 4-4 in the opening set before Vinsant broke to go up, 5-4. The Aggie then held serve to win, 6-4. It was Eubanks who broke away late in the second set. On serve at 5-4, Eubanks broke Vinsant to win the set, 6-4, and even the match. The third set remained on serve until Vinsant posted the only break of the frame to take a 5-4 lead. Vinsant then held to close out the 6-4 third-set victory to advance.
Rinderknech, ranked 18th in singles, lost a no-ad point to open his match against Mansouri before reeling off seven consecutive games to win the first set, 6-1, and take a 1-0 lead in the second set. The second set remained on serve until Mansouri won a no-ad point to go up a break, 5-4. Mansouri then held serve to close out the frame and even the match at a set apiece.
Mansouri, who automatically garnered All-America status by being a No. 9-16 seed in the 64-player field, broke Rinderknech to open the third set and then held serve to go up 2-0. Mansouri would break Rinderknech again, winning a controversial no-ad point to take a 3-0 lead before Rinderknech retired.
Visit 12thMan.com for more information on Texas A&M men’s and women’s tennis. Aggie fans also can keep up to date with the Texas A&M tennis teams on Twitter by following @AggieMTEN and @AggieWTEN.
Complete NCAA tournament brackets, schedules, results and links to live scoring and video are available on the Championship Central page: http://tulsahurricane.com/sports/2016/3/25/2016-ncaa-mens-and-womens-tennis-championships-schedule.aspx
Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics