BRADENTON, Fla. - The Eckerd men's tennis team concluded its season, dropping the opening round of the Sunshine State Conference Championships, 4-0, against Lynn at the IMG Academy on Friday afternoon.
The top-seeded Fighting Knights (14-2, 6-1 SSC) beat the No. 8 seeded Tritons (4-10, 0-7 SSC) after earning the doubles point and clinching the first three singles matches.
Christian Kearns and Arthur de Souza Fonseca opened doubles play with a 6-0 loss in the No. 2 draw to the nationally-ranked duo of Lucca Baptista and Diego Gonzalez. Eric Asakura and Arik Suez improved on that mark in the No. 3 slot, winning two games but ultimately losing 6-2. The No. 1 pairing of Pierre-Olivier Lassalle and Prakrut Patel were tied 4-4, but the match went unfinished as LU earned the doubles point.
Patel narrowly lost the first set of the No. 2 position 6-4 in singles play before falling in the second set 6-0. Suez won four games in the No. 6 slot but lost 6-4 and 6-0. Asakura won two games in the No. 4 position but dropped the match 6-2 and 6-0.
Singles competition
1. #52 Diego Gonzalez (LU) vs. #44 Pierre Lassalle (ECM) 2-6, 2-1, unfinished
2. #21 Lucca Baptista (LU) def. Prakrut Patel (ECM) 6-4, 6-0
3. #56 Ignacio Martinez (LU) vs. Arthur Fonseca (ECM) 6-4, 5-0, unfinished
4. Gianmarco Amatiste (LU) def. Eric Asakura (ECM) 6-2, 6-0
5. Gabrielle Felline (LU) vs. Christian Kearns (ECM) 6-2, 4-2, unfinished
6. Will Kirkman (LU) def. Arik Suez (ECM) 6-4, 6-0
Doubles competition
1. #10 Will Kirkman/Ignacio Martinez (LU) vs. Pierre Lassalle/Prakrut Patel (ECM) 4-4, unfinished
2. #38 Lucca Baptista/Diego Gonzalez (LU) def. Christian Kearns/Arthur Fonseca (ECM) 6-0
3. Ryan Neale/Nicolas Cabrera (LU) def. Eric Asakura/Arik Suez (ECM) 6-2
