Men’s Tennis Doubles Groups Compete at ITA CUP

Cougars wrap up weekend at the Rome Tennis Center

ROME, Ga. – Two doubles pairings represented Columbus State Men's Tennis this weekend at the ITA Cup at the Rome Tennis Center in Rome, Ga.

Daniel Hammond, Benedek Szombathelyi, Elias Peter, and Andrea Sandrone all competed in Rome, representing CSU in doubles play.

Action began on Thursday with Hammond and Szombathelyi securing their Round of 16 match against Washburn's (Kan.) Vaclav Schneider and Tommaso Cecchetti. The duo slipped 6-3 in the first set but responded with a score of 6-2 in set two and 10-7 in the tiebreaker to advance.

Peter and Sandrone slipped in the east opening round on Thursday, dropping scores of 6-3 and 6-2 to West Florida's Diego Duran and Sebastian Rondon before shifting to the western bracket later on.

Hammond and Szombathelyi advanced to Friday's quarterfinals and secured a tight match against Valdosta State's (Ga.) Takeshi Taco and Xaveam Van Wijk. The duo opened set one with a 7-6 loss, losing 7-4 in the tie breaker and responded with a 7-6 win and a 7-4 tiebreaker to level the match. The pair advanced to Saturday's semifinals with a 13-11 tiebreaker victory.

Peter and Sandrone followed up with a win in the quarterfinals of the west bracket, beating Midwestern State's Stephen Slocombe and Germano Setti in 7-6 (7-5) and 7-6 (7-4) victories.

On Saturday, Hammond and Szombathelyi fell to Saint Leo's (Fla.) Luis Iriarte and Eduardo Cohen in sets of 6-3 and 6-2, ending their time in the semis. Peter and Sandrone continued with the west semis, defeating Grand Valley's (Mich.) Lucas Gonzalez and Victor Lopes with wins of 6-3 and 6-4 but that was the end of their road in Rome.

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