ROME, Ga. – The Gustavus men’s tennis top doubles team of Nick Aney (Sr., Rochester) and Alex Budde (Jr., Menomonee Falls, Wis.) fought back from a 6-4 first set loss to defeat Leach and Lemaitre of George Fox 7-6 (5), 10-8 in second and third sets for an upset victory in the first round of the ITA Cup at the Rome Tennis Center on Thursday.
Aney and Budde earned a spot in the national doubles draw as an at-large bid and made the most of the opportunity by upsetting the top seeded team in the field of 16 teams. By winning their first round match, Aney and Budde earn All-America status for the second time in their careers after achieving the honor last spring with a semifinal finish at the NCAA Doubles Championships.
“First off, we’re just fortunate and excited to be in the event,” Head Coach Tommy Valentini said. “It’s great to be back at the ITA Cup and the guys are very grateful for the opportunity to compete. They played a very good team today in George Fox and the margin was very very thin. Nick and Alex showed a lot of resilience to stay positive and to keep competing with their best effort. They had some chances to break in both sets, but weren’t able to string one together. Still, they kept coming up with gutsy holds and played two close tiebreaks with poise and energy. They handled the moment beautifully, represented our program well and were fortunate to come through on the score line in the last tight moments. They made good progress as a team today, and look forward to more exciting challenges tomorrow.”
Aney and Budde will face Esses and Raina of Emory at 11:30 a.m. Friday. Esses and Raina won their first round match 6-3, 6-3 over Mary Washington.