Photo by: Sam Craft/Texas A&M Athletics
Texas A&M Men’s Tennis Picks Up Five Wins in Napa
Sep 16, 2017 | Men's Tennis
ST HELENA, California – The Texas A&M men's tennis team claimed five wins on Day Two of the Napa Valley Tennis Classic at the Meadowood Resort in St. Helena, Ca. Joining the Aggies at the Napa Valley showdown are players from Baylor, North Carolina, Southern Cal, Tulsa and host-school Cal along with 8 USTA junior players as competition will last through Sunday.
No. 93 Valentin Vacherot claimed his second straight win to open his first collegiate fall season after enrolling at Texas A&M last spring. The sophomore from France topped Jake DeVine of USC 6-1, 7-6(1) to improve to 2-0 in California, the right-hander will take on Matt Gamble of Notre Dame for a chance to win his group in Napa on Sunday.
"I was able to play at a much higher level today than I did yesterday," Vacherot said. "I served much better today and my footwork was better, so I was hitting the ball well especially with my forehand. This weekend has been my first competitive matches on hard courts since last season. I am really happy to start out with a couple wins."
No. 108 AJ Catanzariti defeated Akos Kotorman of Baylor, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, to remain perfect this weekend. The Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania native topped No. 104 Alex Lebedev of Baylor Friday and will take on Axel Nefve of the USTA High Performance Team tomorrow for a chance to win his group.
Catanzariti and Vacherot partnered to top a pair of USC doubles teams Saturday afternoon. The Maroon & White duo defeated Thibault Forget and Tanner Smith 6-3 before dispatching of DeVine and Mateusz Smolicki 6-2. The Aggie pair went 3-0 on the weekend after besting Keenan Mayo and Nefve of USTA on Friday.
Freshman Juan Carlos Aguilar won his first singles match in the Texas A&M uniform, the Bolivian defeated Andrew Dale of the USTA 6-2, 6-2. Aguilar will wrap group play against Constantin Franzten of Baylor Sunday.
"I was very pleased how our guys competed today," Texas A&M head coach Steve Denton said. "Happy to see Carlos play well after a tough first day. Val and AJ both were the highlights on day two as they both won their second consecutive singles matches. They both got off to fast starts and then were very solid in the two doubles wins today. It was nice to see them get some doubles victories because double play will be an integral part of how the team does."
Singles play in California will consist of eight groups of four players (three college players and one USTA player) playing a round robin of one match per day that began Friday morning. Group winners will be entered in an eight man tie-breaker shootout draw on Sunday. The Shootout winner will receive a main draw Napa Valley Challenger wild card entry. Additionally, each player will compete in two double matches, one match each day on Friday and Saturday.
The Napa Valley Classic was founded as a collaborative effort on the part of Cal-Berkeley Head Coach Peter Wright and Meadowood Tennis Pro Doug King to bring exciting, top-rated tennis to the Napa Valley.
The Aggies are looking forward to another successful year after the team finished the 2016-17 season ranked No. 14 in the ITA poll and advancing to the Round of 16 in Athens. The Maroon & White return to the courts this fall with an impressive slate of tournaments including the ITA All-American in Tulsa and ITA Indoor Championships in New York.
Visit 12thMan.com for more information on Texas A&M men's tennis. Aggie fans also can keep up to date with the A&M men's tennis team on Twitter by following @AggieMTEN or on Facebook at Facebook.com/AggieMensTennis.
2017 Napa Valley Tennis Classic
St. Helena, CA
Day One Results
Jochen Bertsch (OU) def. Juan Carlos Aguilar (TAMU) 6-4, 6-4
No. 108 AJ Cantanzariti (TAMU) def. No. 104 Alex Lebedev (ND) 6-4, 6-7(8), 6-1
No. 93 Valentin Vacherot (TAMU) def. Nathan Han (USTA) 4-6, 6-0, 7-6(3)
Catanzariti/Vacherot (TAMU) def. Keenan Mayo/Axel Nefve (USTA) 6-4
Aguilar/Tadiwa Chinamo (TAMU /Pacific) def. Andrew Dale/Andres Martin (USTA) 6-3
Day Two Results
Aguilar (TAMU) def. Dale (USTA) 6-2, 6-2
No. 93 Vacherot (TAMU) def. Jake DeVine (USC) 6-1, 7-6(2)
No. 108 Cantanzariti (TAMU) def. Kotorman (Baylor) 6-2, 4-6, 6-3
Catanzariti/Vacherot (TAMU) def. Thibault Forget/Tanner Smith (USC) 6-3
Catanzariti/Vacherot (TAMU) def. DeVine/Mateusz Smolicki (USC) 6-2
No. 93 Valentin Vacherot claimed his second straight win to open his first collegiate fall season after enrolling at Texas A&M last spring. The sophomore from France topped Jake DeVine of USC 6-1, 7-6(1) to improve to 2-0 in California, the right-hander will take on Matt Gamble of Notre Dame for a chance to win his group in Napa on Sunday.
"I was able to play at a much higher level today than I did yesterday," Vacherot said. "I served much better today and my footwork was better, so I was hitting the ball well especially with my forehand. This weekend has been my first competitive matches on hard courts since last season. I am really happy to start out with a couple wins."
No. 108 AJ Catanzariti defeated Akos Kotorman of Baylor, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, to remain perfect this weekend. The Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania native topped No. 104 Alex Lebedev of Baylor Friday and will take on Axel Nefve of the USTA High Performance Team tomorrow for a chance to win his group.
Catanzariti and Vacherot partnered to top a pair of USC doubles teams Saturday afternoon. The Maroon & White duo defeated Thibault Forget and Tanner Smith 6-3 before dispatching of DeVine and Mateusz Smolicki 6-2. The Aggie pair went 3-0 on the weekend after besting Keenan Mayo and Nefve of USTA on Friday.
Freshman Juan Carlos Aguilar won his first singles match in the Texas A&M uniform, the Bolivian defeated Andrew Dale of the USTA 6-2, 6-2. Aguilar will wrap group play against Constantin Franzten of Baylor Sunday.
"I was very pleased how our guys competed today," Texas A&M head coach Steve Denton said. "Happy to see Carlos play well after a tough first day. Val and AJ both were the highlights on day two as they both won their second consecutive singles matches. They both got off to fast starts and then were very solid in the two doubles wins today. It was nice to see them get some doubles victories because double play will be an integral part of how the team does."
Singles play in California will consist of eight groups of four players (three college players and one USTA player) playing a round robin of one match per day that began Friday morning. Group winners will be entered in an eight man tie-breaker shootout draw on Sunday. The Shootout winner will receive a main draw Napa Valley Challenger wild card entry. Additionally, each player will compete in two double matches, one match each day on Friday and Saturday.
The Napa Valley Classic was founded as a collaborative effort on the part of Cal-Berkeley Head Coach Peter Wright and Meadowood Tennis Pro Doug King to bring exciting, top-rated tennis to the Napa Valley.
The Aggies are looking forward to another successful year after the team finished the 2016-17 season ranked No. 14 in the ITA poll and advancing to the Round of 16 in Athens. The Maroon & White return to the courts this fall with an impressive slate of tournaments including the ITA All-American in Tulsa and ITA Indoor Championships in New York.
Visit 12thMan.com for more information on Texas A&M men's tennis. Aggie fans also can keep up to date with the A&M men's tennis team on Twitter by following @AggieMTEN or on Facebook at Facebook.com/AggieMensTennis.
2017 Napa Valley Tennis Classic
St. Helena, CA
Day One Results
Jochen Bertsch (OU) def. Juan Carlos Aguilar (TAMU) 6-4, 6-4
No. 108 AJ Cantanzariti (TAMU) def. No. 104 Alex Lebedev (ND) 6-4, 6-7(8), 6-1
No. 93 Valentin Vacherot (TAMU) def. Nathan Han (USTA) 4-6, 6-0, 7-6(3)
Catanzariti/Vacherot (TAMU) def. Keenan Mayo/Axel Nefve (USTA) 6-4
Aguilar/Tadiwa Chinamo (TAMU /Pacific) def. Andrew Dale/Andres Martin (USTA) 6-3
Day Two Results
Aguilar (TAMU) def. Dale (USTA) 6-2, 6-2
No. 93 Vacherot (TAMU) def. Jake DeVine (USC) 6-1, 7-6(2)
No. 108 Cantanzariti (TAMU) def. Kotorman (Baylor) 6-2, 4-6, 6-3
Catanzariti/Vacherot (TAMU) def. Thibault Forget/Tanner Smith (USC) 6-3
Catanzariti/Vacherot (TAMU) def. DeVine/Mateusz Smolicki (USC) 6-2
Players Mentioned
Media Availability: Steve Denton
Monday, October 13
Baylor Postgame: Steve Denton, Theo Papamalamis, Alan Magadan
Sunday, May 04
Rice Postgame: Togan Tokac
Saturday, May 03
NCAA Tournament Preview: Steve Denton, Raphael Perot
Tuesday, April 30
