The men’s tennis team concluded its first day of the season with a 7-0 win against Rider University Saturday at the Student Pavilion.
At first doubles, Santiago Canete and Vineet Naran struggled to finish points at the net and fell behind a break at 2-4. But after a quick regroup, the Owl duo were able to break back twice to take a 7-6 lead late to take it 8-6.
“We came out slow in doubles,” coach Steve Mauro said. “They may have taken [their opponents] a little bit for granted. I think they really weren’t warmed up. They started off slow but once they started to hit more balls it seemed they started to get in control and they were able to put them away.”
Senior Ian Glessing and junior Filip Stipcic helped clinch the doubles point for the Owls with an 8-1 win. Ondre Cargill and Stephen Ong fell in the third doubles match in a tiebreak 8-7 (6).
Ong was able to recover at sixth singles, winning in straight sets 6-2, 6-1.
“I’m kind of disappointed about doubles, but it was good to move on and play my singles match,” Ong said. “He was pretty unorthodox. He kept slicing, and I kept coming in to put pressure on him. I tried to get to the net as much as possible.”
Among other winners at the singles position were Temple’s newest additions, Artem Kapshuk and Nicolas Porash, winning the first and second singles 6-1, 6-3, and 6-1, 6-1, respectively.
“[Kapshuk and Porash] are really going to help us a lot,” Mauro said. “We’re really excited about having them on the team. They are going to make a big impact for us.”
Seniors Nicolas Paulus, Hicham Belkssir, and Maros Januvka all won at third, fourth and fifth singles to clinch the shutout for the Owls.
“Anytime you get a win it gives you a little bit more confidence,” Ong said. “It doesn’t matter who we play against. It gives us good practice and allows us to learn and work on some things.”
Mark McCormick can be reached at mark.mccormick@temple.edu.
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