Proving that age is just a number, the No. 36 Hurricanes men’s tennis team took care of business by winning its first two matches of the season by scores of 6-1.
“We didn’t know how everything was going to be this year,” said senior Vivek Subramanian. “We have a lot of freshmen and a lot of young players, and stepping into a big role right away- it’s tough. I feel like the first two days they handled themselves really well, they kept their composure and they were able to overcome some adversities at times.”
On both days doubles swept their opponents and five of six singles matches were won by Miami. Led by No. 7 junior Daniel Vallverdu, who beat No. 56 sophomore Olivier Sajous of FAU, and senior Jordan Delass of Samford in singles play, key victories from freshman Keith Crawley in the fifth spot helped Miami pull away.
Subramanian won on the fourth court both days and as part of the 18th-ranked doubles team with junior David Rosenfeld.
“I don’t care where I play,” Subramanian said. “I’m just going out there and trying to do what’s best for the team and trying to win and put the point on the board for us. The only thing I can do is try to win as many of the matches I can and help out doubles as much as I can and cheer because that’s a big part here.”
The No. 97-ranked Rosenfeld came back from a tough loss against FAU freshman Marc Abdelnour to win Friday 6-2, 6-1 against Samford senior Renan Silveira.
“It’s always exciting to start off the season, always exciting to watch our freshmen play,” said Head Coach Mario Rincon. “I think we’re pretty young, pretty talented. We’ve enjoyed really good chemistry this year and we’re having a good time working together.”
Miami returns Tuesday to take on in-state rival No. 14 Florida at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center at 2 p.m.
Christina De Nicola may be contacted at c.denicola@umiami.edu.