BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – The Yellowjacket men's tennis team was back in action Saturday, competing in a pair of matches at Lifetime Tennis South in Bloomington, Minn.
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The Yellowjackets opened the day with a come-from-behind 6-3 win over Wartburg, before cruising past Macalester later in the day by an 7-2 score.
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The two wins were a nice bounce back for the Yellowjackets (3-3, 0-0 UMAC), who lost two tough matches to Carroll and UW-Whitewater last weekend.
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Against Wartburg, the Yellowjackets fell behind 2-1 after doubles play. The lone win in doubles play came at No. 1, where
Sharan Kanugovi (Bangalore, Karnataka/New Baldwin International School) and
Davide Pelletti (Prado, Brazil) outlasted Cade Davis and Jeff Miller of Wartburg. With the match tied 7-7, Kanugovi and Pelletti won the tiebreaker 8-6.
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In singles play, the Yellowjackets put the pedal down, taking five of the six matches and doing so in straight sets fashion.
Lucca Paladini (Blumenu, Brazil/Colegio Saber) provided the clincher at No. 3 singles, defeating Wartburg's Kyle Sehlin. Paladini took the first set 6-3 and the second set 7-6 after taking a 7-3 tiebreaker.
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Match Notes
- Igor Guetten Chaves (Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil/Colégio Adventista) got the win at No. 1 singles, winning in straight sets 6-3, 6-4.
- Kanugovi earned the win at No. 2 singles, winning straight sets 6-1, 6-2.
- Jacob Zacharias (Cambridge, Minn./Cambridge-Isanti) won 6-4, 6-1 at No. 4 singles.
- Vitor Sakakibara (São Paulo, Brazil/Colégio Saber) was the winner at No. 6 singles, 6-2, 6-1.
Things were a little less stressful in the second match of the day, as the Yellowjackets rolled past Macalester.
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The Yellowjackets swept doubles play, with Guetten Chaves and
Ren Kurachi (Yokohama, Japan/Yokosuka Gakuin) winning 8-5 at No. 1, while Pelletti and Kanugovi took No. 2 doubles, 8-4. The 'Jackets completed the sweep with a 8-7 win at No. 3 doubles by
Brandon Chu (Rogers, Minn./Rogers) and
Yash Chhabra (Jaipur, Rajasthan/Sanskar School).
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In the singles matches, the Yellowjackets got straight sets wins from Kanugovi a No. 2 singles and Chhabra at No. 3.
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Guetten Chaves at No. 1 singles and Zacharias at No. 4 singles accounted for the other Yellowjacket wins.
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Match Notes
- At No. 3 doubles, Chu and Chhabra needed a 7-3 tiebreaker win to take the match.
- Guetten Chaves rallied in his singles match. After dropping the first set, he won the second set 6-3 before taking the tiebreaker 10-6.
- Zacharias eked out a win in the first set of his singles match, taking it 7-5 over Lewis Jolly of the Scots. Jolly rallied to take the second set 6-3 before Zacharias won the tiebreaker 10-4.
- Kanugovi had a big day, winning both of his singles and doubles matches to go 4-0 on the day.
The Yellowjackets return to action Saturday, Feb. 10 when they take on Bethel. The first serve is set for 3 p.m. at the Rogers Tennis Club in Rogers, Minn.
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