Wednesday, 03/14/2012

FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The George Washington men’s tennis team wrapped its Spring Break play in Florida on Wednesday morning with a convincing 6-1 win over Troy at the Cardinal Gibbons High School tennis courts.

The Colonials, who defeated Florida Atlantic, 5-2, in Boca Raton on Sunday, improved to 5-6 on the year with the victory, while the Trojans fell to 3-10.

The duo of senior Ugur Atalay and freshman Francisco Dias opened the match with an 8-4 top-flight doubles victory over Troy’s Mansingh Athare and Sami Ghorbel. Senior Richard Blumenfeld and junior Alexander van Gils then teamed up for a No. 2 doubles victory over Tommy Cundy and Jamie Eccleton by an 8-4 score.

In the No. 3 match, junior Leonardo Lapentti and sophomore Viktor Svensson fell to Patrick Eichler and Anas Rouchdi, 8-6.

In singles play, Dias – who is ranked No. 80 in the most recent Intercollegiate Tennis Association singles poll – fell to Rouchdi in a tiebreaker by set scores of 6-4, 1-6, 1-0 (10-5). Atalay earned a tiebreaker victory in the No. 2 match, defeating Ghorbel 6-3, 2-6, 1-0 (10-6).

Van Gils posted a 6-3, 6-3 third-flight win over Athare, and Blumenfeld earned a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Eccleton at No. 4 singles. In the No. 5 spot, Lapentti defeated Eichler, 6-0, 6-1, and Svensson downed Tadju Davies in the No. 6 match, 6-3, 6-2.

GW continues its Spring Break road swing this weekend at Campbell and East Carolina. The Colonials match up with the Camels on Saturday at 1 p.m., followed by a 12 p.m. match with the Pirates on Sunday.
 
George Washington 6, Troy 1

Singles
No. 1 – Anas Rouchdi (TROY) def. #80 Francisco Dias (GW) – 6-4, 1-6, 1-0 (10-5)
No. 2 – Ugur Atalay (GW) def. Sami Ghorbel (TROY) – 6-3, 2-6, 1-0 (10-6)
No. 3 – Alexander van Gils (GW) def. Mansingh Athare (TROY) – 6-3, 6-3
No. 4 – Richard Blumenfeld (GW) def. Jamie Eccleton (TROY) – 6-4, 6-2
No. 5 – Leonardo Lapentti (GW) def. Patrick Eichler (TROY) – 6-0, 6-1
No. 6 – Viktor Svensson (GW) def. Tadju Davies (TROY) – 6-3, 6-2

Doubles
No. 1 – Atalay/Dias (GW) def. Athare/Ghorbel (TROY) – 8-4
No. 2 – Blumenfeld/van Gils (GW) def. Cundy/Eccleton (TROY) – 8-4
No. 3 – Eichler/Rouchdi (TROY) def. Lapentti/Svensson (GW) – 8-6