East Tennessee State’s men’s tennis team lost its fourth straight match of the 2003 season to a ranked team Saturday afternoon at the Bristol Racquet and Fitness Club. ETSU (2-4) began the day by dropping three doubles matches to the 68th-ranked Alabama-Birmingham, which improved its record to 5-3.
UAB’s Kristijan Mitrovski and Bastian Gruendler defeated the No. 1 doubles team of Alejandro Salazar and Marcos Pavlovich, 8-4. Andre Maier and Dino Mancarella then knocked off the Buccaneer duo of Diego Iglesias and Fernando Fiuri, 8-5, before Moises Serrano and Federico Ochoa lost 8-6 to the Blazer’s Patrick Suhrbier and Sansaruz Zaman.
Salazar picked up ETSU’s only win of the day with a 6-2, 6-0 decision over Ivan Andreev at No. 2 singles. At the No. 1 slot, Pavlovich suffered a 7-6, 6-3 loss to UAB’s Gruendler. In No. 3 singles action, Iglesias fell 7-6, 6-1 to Andre Maier. Mitrovski then defeated Buccaneer senior Francisco Diaz at No. 4 singles, 6-2, 6-3. Suhrbier beat ETSU’s lone newcomer Fernando Fiuri, 7-6, 6-3 in the fifth slot, and at No. 6 Serrano lost to UAB’s Dino Mancarella, 6-4, 6-2.
“UAB is a very solid team and they are well balanced,” ETSU coach Yaser Zaatini said. “I think we are not close to where we need to be right now. We are dealing with a tough start and are struggling to get in sync. We just need to play with more heart.”
ETSU returns to the court today to take on No. 75 Old Dominion beginning at 9 a.m. at the Bristol Racquet and Fitness Club. Results

UAB 6, ETSU 1

    Singles

  • Bastian Gruendler (UAB) def. Marcos Pavlovich, 7-6, 6-3
  • Alejandro Salazar (ETSU) def. Ivan Andreev 6-2, 6-0
  • Andre Maier (UAB) def. Diego Iglesias, 7-6, 6-1
  • Kristijan Mitrovski (UAB) def. Francisco Diaz, 6-2, 6-3
    Patrick Suhrbier (UAB) def. Fernando Fiuri, 7-6, 6-3
  • Dino Mancarella (UAB) def. Moises Serrano, 6-4, 6-2

    Doubles

  • Mitrovski-Gruendler (UAB) def. Salazar-Pavlovich, 8-4
  • Maier-Mancarella (UAB) def. Iglesias-Fiuri, 8-5
  • Suhrbier-Zaman (UAB) def. Serrano-Ochoa, 8-6

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