THE ATENEO Men’s Lawn Tennis team secured a convincing victory against the Adamson University (AdU) Soaring Falcons, 5-0, on Saturday, February 16 at the Colegio San Agustin-Bulacan Tennis Stadium in San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan.

Gab Tiamson almost notched a double bagel in his UAAP debut. He delivered an admirable performance, taking the game in two sets, 6-1, 6-1.

Marcen Gonzales suited up for his new role as Team Captain against Soaring Falcon Jemar Sanchez in the second singles match. Gonzales dominated from start to finish and took the match, 6-1, 6-2, giving the Blue and White a 2-0 advantage in the team-tie.

The pairing of Bong Gonzales and Erj Gatdula battled AdU’s Jeffrey Burgos and Brandon Albito in the first doubles match. The two survived a tight first set, 6-4, and went on to seal the match with an overpowering 6-1 score in the succeeding second set.

At this point, Ateneo was able to capture the team-tie victory after only fielding their first set of players.

In the second doubles match, Julian Dayrit and Luke Flores started off shaky, as they won their first set by just one service break, 6-4. With momentum and confidence on their side, however, the two Blue Eagles went on to close out the second set, 6-1.

In his return to action, Iyo Canlas faced off against Ken Dela Cruz in the third and final singles match of the day. Despite the effort put up by his opponent, Canlas was able to defeat his AdU counterpart in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2, capping off a brilliant first showing from last season’s finalists.

Their next game will be against University of Santo Tomas, at 8:00 AM, on Saturday, February 23 at the same venue.

Team-tie score: Ateneo 5 AdU 0

Set scores:

First Singles: Tiamson def. Galindo 6-1, 6-1

Second Singles: Gonzales def. Sanchez, 6-1, 6-2

Third Singles: Canlas def. Dela Cruz, 6-4, 6-2

First Doubles: Gonzales and Gatdula def. Burgos and Albito, 6-4, 6-1

Second Doubles: Dayrit and Flores def. Arillasca and Chiong, 6-4, 6-0