Men’s tennis sweeps Georgia Southern

The University of Miami’s men’s tennis team concluded its Sunday match in a no less than perfect manner.

The ‘Canes defeated the Georgia Southern Eagles in straight sets, winning all doubles and singles contests in the 7-0 triumph.

In doubles Josh Cohen and Eric Hechtman met up with the Eagles’ Vincent Patry and Danie Van Den Heever and defeated them 8-5.

“Overall I think I played well. Obviously the tough conditions being the wind; I think I handled it pretty well,” Cohen said. “I think the wind frustrated my opponent, which ended up working for my advantage.”

The wind must have also been blowing in favor of the Hurricanes because Tim Krebs and Vivek Subramanian along with Luis Manrique and Ryan Waits finished their doubles matches with 9-7 and 8-5 victories, respectively.

Sunday’s match was definitely one of silent domination by the ‘Canes. Among the faint yells of “wind give me a break” and “Go Southern!” from the Georgia Southern players, the ‘Canes didn’t allow the Eagles to get into a rhythm.

Singles matches were no different. Many eyes were on the freshman Subramanian, who played an outstanding match, outmaneuvering his opponent Diego Flores with precision and speed in the 6-4, 6-2 victory.

“At first it was a little bit rough getting used to the crowd and having home court advantage, but finally in the second set I just got into my game and I started feeling more comfortable,” Subramanian said.

A special spectator from the university was in attendance, as President Donna E. Shalala stopped by to show her support. Coming from a tennis background, Shalala was very excited about the win.

“I am very happy about their victory. They have a wonderful new coach and we are going to improve the facilities for them. But it definitely looks like we have an outstanding team this year,” Shalala said.

Pleased with his team’s victory, Head Coach Mario Rincon said he admired the Hurricanes’ determination in Sunday’s performance.

“We have a team that just really likes to fight and they are such a close group that likes to play for the University of Miami,” Rincon said. “All of these things make my job a lot easier because we have a lot of improvement still to do because we have great goals to accomplish this season and little by little we are getting there.”

The No. 48 ‘Canes now have a season record of 3-1 and will be facing their next opponent at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center this Friday, hosting in-state rival Jacksonville at 8 p.m.

Antoinette Cordova can be contacted at a.cordova1@umiami.edu.