SAINT LEO, Fla. (November 1, 2021) - The Rollins men's tennis team wrapped up their individual fall season with a trip west for the Saint Leo Hidden Duals this weekend. Other participating teams included Flagler College, Florida Southern, and the host Lions. The Tars were shorthanded for the trip, with head coach
Jay Friedman only bringing five student-athletes to compete.
Friday, October 29
Doubles: The Tars drew Florida Southern in their first action of the weekend.
Denis Golubev and
Mikkel Baumann, playing together for the first time this fall, made light work of Valentin Hertweck and Matteo Feggi, winning 6-1. The Mocs got their revenge in the other match as Elliott Altman and Eric Nordblom outlasted
Moritz Stenzer and
Phillip McMurray by a score of 6-4.
Singles: Rollins faced a tough opponent for the first round of singles play in the host Lions, who finished last season as the #3 team in the country. Bruno Faletto took down
Denis Golubev, 6-4, 6-2, in a battle of ranked individuals. Faletto finished at #12 last year while Golubev was ranked #39. Saint Leo was able to sweep the other four matches as well.
Saturday, October 30
Doubles: Day two saw the Tars face off against Flagler College, representing the Peach Belt Conference. Golubev and Baumann fought hard against Oscar Del Grando and Philipp Lemken, but ultimately fell by a score of 7-5. McMurray paired up with
David Polo in the second match, but they saw the same result against Nikita Tatyanin and Cedric Holzmann, losing 6-2.
Singles: Rollins split their singles play, with two wins and two losses on the day. Golubev drew Hertweck, and the two battled it out to the tune of 7-5, 7-6(5) in a fantastic clash. Thankfully for the Tars, Golubev was the winner. He was joined on the right side of things by Baumann who defeated Chris Fok Kow 6-1, 6-4. Florida Southern was able to even up the series with wins from Feggi over McMurray (6-4, 6-3) and Nordblom over Polo (6-4, 6-0).
Sunday, October 31
Doubles: A taste of revenge was in order for the Tars against Saint Leo in the morning matchups. Golubev and Baumann were able to take down Saint Leo's Faletto and Willem van den Akker on the featured court, winning 6-3. The Lions claimed victory in the other doubles match as Vincent Thiel and Ghali Mensour defeated McMurray and Polo.
Singles:
Denis Golubev was the only Tar to find success on the final day. Facing Flagler's Nikita Tatyanin, the Italian was a force, taking the match by a score of 6-1, 6-0. In other action, Baumann lost to Del Granado (6-3, 6-1), McMurray lost to Lemken (6-3, 6-0), and McMurray fell at the hands of Holzmann, 6-0, 6-0.
The Tars will pick things up in February with a Sunshine State Conference matchup on the road against the Palm Beach Atlantic Sailfish to kick off the dual season.
