Concluding an ACC road trip that included an away win over Boston College, Miami Hurricanes men’s tennis fell to the No. 27-ranked Louisville Cardinals, 4-3, this past Sunday afternoon in Louisville. The match drops the team’s record to 8-5 (1-2 ACC).
Louisville won the doubles point with quick wins on courts one and two. On court one, UL’s #20-ranked doubles pair of Etienne Donnet and Natan Rodrigues defeated UM’s #27-ranked doubles pair of Vladislav Melnic and Adrien Burdet, 6-1. The Cardinals’ Will Mayew and Andre Steinbech took down the Hurricanes’ Nacho Serra Sanchez and Sam Baumgartner, 6-3 on court two.
The home team continued to push the advantage with a 6-1, 6-2 win for Donnet over Melnic on court one.
But the Canes did not take long to respond, tying the match 2-2. Miami’s victories came from Antonio Prat, who defeated Louisville’s Andre Steinbach, 6-1, 6-3, on court three, and Sam Baumgartner, who beat UL’s Kosuke Nakanishi, 6-1, 6-4, on court six.
With the match tied, the teams split the next two singles matches. On court two, Louisville’s Natan Rodrigues defeated UM’s Martin Katz, 7-6 (3), 6-1. On court five, Miami’s Adrien Burdet responded with a 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 win over the Cardinals’ Piet Steveker.
On the deciding court, Miami’s Nacho Serra Sanchez got off to a strong start with a quick first-set win. However, Louisville’s Will Mayew came storming back, topping Serra Sanchez in a three-set battle, 3-6, 7-5, 6-4.
The Hurricanes will return to the Neil Schiff Tennis Center in a non-conference affair with Penn on March 7.