(photo courtesy of Marleen Fouchier)
ROME, Ga. – The Gustavus men’s tennis trio of Indraneel Raut, Michael O’Neil, and Daniel Fouchier concluded play at the ITA Cup on Friday. Raut lost his final singles match 6-2, 6-3 to Jake Zalenski of Kenyon, finishing in a tie for seventh place. The doubles team of O’Neil and Fouchier lost a pair of three-set breakers; first a 4-6, 7-6(4), 10-4 loss Josh Belandres and Boris Sorkin of Tufts, followed by a 6-3, 3-6, 10-7 loss to Walker Anderson and Alan Dubrovsky of Hobart.
“The guys all competed very well today,” Head Coach Tommy Valentini said. “Indraneel again fought hard against a tough and experienced opponent. Despite the tough result he competed until the end and worked to find solutions. He made more important steps in his game in today’s match.
“In the doubles, Michael and Daniel played very well for long stretches in each match. Against Tufts they earned four match points and played them all well and just didn’t get over the line. I was extremely proud of the way they lived out our values throughout that match, and especially in reloading against Hobart. Each time they faced adversity, especially at a set and 0-3 down in the last match, they always chose the positive response. It was wonderful to watch them execute their plan, rattle off six games in a row and force a third set. Hats off to their opponents for playing a great breaker from there. Despite losing three third set superbreakers, this team made great strides this week and competed very well. I couldn’t be prouder of the character they showed today and am excited for them to build on this experience and for what this week at the ITA cup will mean for our team moving forward.”