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Aleksandar Grabovac bounced back after losing his first set, and won his match 1-6, 6-1, 6-2.
Aleksandar Grabovac bounced back after losing his first set, and won his match 1-6, 6-1, 6-2.
Posted: Sep 12, 2012

Firebirds Men’s Tennis Zips Past Shepherd, 9-0 in Season Opener

Box Score

SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV  –  The University of the District of Columbia men's tennis team, fresh off its first NCAA Tournament appearance last Spring, started the 2012 campaign with an impressive, 9-0 season-opening victory over non-conference foe Shepherd on Wednesday afternoon.

The Firebirds (1-0) swept all three doubles matches and all six singles matches to start off the 2012-13 season on the right foot.  Shepherd, which was 16-9 last season and advanced to the NCAA Atlantic #2 Regionals, fell to 0-1 to start the season.

In doubles play, junior Miguel Uzcategui (Electrical Engineering – Valencia, Venezuela/Colegio Sagrado Corazon) and junior Carlos Quiroga (Electrical Engineering – Valencia, Venezuela/Maria Montessori) earned the match's first point with a convincing, 8-1 win at third doubles. This pairing, in their third year of playing together, improved to 33-6.

Sophomore Simon Andersson (Business Management – Ystad, Sweden/Sydskanska Gymnasiet) and senior Aleksandar Grabovac (Psychology – Ljubljana, Slovenia/Gimnazija Euro Sola Ljubljana), who teamed up for a 16-4 record at No. 1 doubles last season, started the 2012-13 season with an 8-4 win this afternoon.

Two team newcomers, junior Ike Kiro (Milnerton Ridge, South Africa/Milnerton HS) and freshman Fabian Patrutescu (Timisoara, Romania/L.P.S. Banatul Timisoara) came away with an 8-6 victory in their first match with the Firebirds at second doubles.

In singles action, Kiro picked up the first win when Steven Kolumban retired with the match score at 7-6 (4), 3-0. Uzcategui, up two spots from his No. 4 spot last year, defeated Michael Lesko, 6-4, 6-2 at No. 2, and with that win, the Firebirds clinched the match victory.

Still, District of Columbia went on to win the remaining four singles matches for good measure. Grabovac battled back after losing his first set and went on to win his match 1-6, 6-1, 6-2. Anderson followed with a 6-0, 6-3 win at No. 4 singles over Taylor Boyle, and Patrutescu cruised to a 6-0, 6-2 win over Al Starlings at No. 5. Quiroga capped off the match with a dominant, 6-0, 6-0 win over Sricharan Mahaudi to complete the 9-0 sweep for the Firebirds.

"Today was a great start to the season for the men's team," head coach Dickie Mahaffey said. "I'm particularly very pleased at how Aleksandar was able to maintain his composure and turn his match around."

 

UDC - 9, Shepherd University - 0

 

Doubles

1. Grabovac/Andersson def. Lesko/Kolumban (SU) 8-4 2. Kiro/Patrutescu def. Pratt/Boyle (SU) 8-6 3. Uzcategui/Quiroga def. Thomas/Starlings (SU) 8-1

 

Singles

1. Aleksandar Grabovac def. Chris Pratt (SU) 1-6, 6-1, 6-2 2. Miguel Uzcategui def. Michael Lesko (SU) 6-4, 6-2 3. Ike Kiro def. Steven Kolumban (SU) 7-6(4), 3-0 ret.

4. Simon Andersson def. Taylor Boyle (SU) 6-0, 6-3 5. Fabian Patrutescu def. Al Starlings (SU) 6-0, 6-2 6. Carlos Quiroga def. Sricharan Mahaudi (SU) 6-0, 6-0

 

UDC - 9

SU - 0

 

Order of Completion

Doubles: 3, 1, 2

Singles: 3, 2, 1, 4, 5, 6

 

Season Record (W-L): 1 - 0, ECC: 0 - 0