AN UNRELENTING showing by the Ateneo Men’s Lawn Tennis Team (AMLTT) leads them to complete the season sweep over rivals De La Salle University Green Tennisters in a 5-0 trouncing. The match was held earlier today in the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center in the City of Manila.
With this victory, the Blue Eagles maintain their pristine winning form, bagging their eighth victory of the UAAP Season 86 tournament.
Ateneo’s JD Velez kickstarted the afternoon by making quick work of La Salle’s Raven Hitosis, leaving his opponent answerless after conceding the first point of the first set, 6-1. The second period of the second singles match ended with the same favorable fate for Velez at 6-1 to give the Blue Eagles the head start in the team-tie.
Following Velez’s masterful outing was Noy Seno, who also swiftly took care of his Taft counterpart Dan Mates. With a deuce scare in the first canto’s clincher being the Atenean’s only significant speed bump, Seno effectively mirrored Velez’s performance, finishing the first singles match victoriously with a 6-1 ending on both sets.
Blue Eagles Axl Gonzaga and Nio Tria began the first doubles match against the Green Tennisters’ Brysl Libao and RJ Virrey with a clean 6-1 drubbing in the initial set. However, despite their second set lead being cut to one on multiple occasions, the Blue and White partnership culminated their match with a 6-4 finish, giving Ateneo the overall win with two matches to spare.
Austin Delos Santos continued the AMLTT’s relentless onslaught, not giving up a single set to Fernando Po to extend Ateneo’s team-tie lead to 4-0 with a 6-2, 6-1 rout in the third singles match.
The last match of the afternoon saw the Blue and White’s JJ Llavore and Stef Gurria face off against the Lasallian pair of EJ Geluz and Leyton Portin. The two sides split the first two sets, 7-5 and 5-7, after numerous rallies and deuces. However, the Loyola Heights-based duo prevailed in the end, preventing the need for extra deciders in the third with a 6-3 win that guaranteed the Blue Eagles’ sweep of La Salle.
The Blue Eagles aim to continue their desirable form against the University of Santo Tomas Male Tennisters in a top-of-the-table clash on March 13, 7:30 AM, in the same venue.
Team-Tie Score: Ateneo-DLSU: 5-0
First Men’s Singles: Seno def. Mates, 6-1, 6-1
Second Men’s Singles: Velez def. Hitosis, 6-1, 6-1
First Men’s Doubles: Gonzaga & Tria def. Libao & Virrey, 6-1, 6-4
Third Men’s Singles: Delos Santos def. Po, 6-2, 6-1
Second Men’s Doubles: Llavore & Gurria def. Geluz & Portin, 7-5, 5-7, 6-3
Current Standings (W/L)
- ATENEO Blue Eagles (8-1)
- UST Male Tennisters (7-1)
- UE Red Warriors (7-2)
- NU Bulldogs (4-4)
- UP Fighting Maroons (3-7)
- AdU Soaring Falcons (1-7)
- DLSU Green Tennisters (1-9)
