The winning streak in men’s tennis is finally coming to an end

WILMINGTON, NC North Carolina A&T men’s tennis’ massive winning streak came to an end on Tuesday with a 4-0 loss to defending Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) champion UNC Wilmington at the UNCW Tennis Courts.

The Aggies’ winning streak is 13 straight as they fell to 13-1 overall and 1-1 in the CAA. UNCW has won eight CAA Tournament championships in 13 years and went 12-6 overall and 2-0 in league play.

“I’m incredibly proud of the fight some of my guys showed today,” said the A&T head coach. Dejon Bivens. “That’s what I expect from our team. The good news is that we can be 1,000 times better, which is what we’re going to work on. This is our first defeat this season, so it’s an unusual feeling for us, but it’s a necessary step in our evolution.”

The match opened with A&T Esteban López and Vasil Ivanov lost to Drew Broadstreet and Trey Mallory 6-1. Eder white and Alex Martinez tried to keep the Aggies alive for the doubles point, but lost to Reece Falck and Alex de Gabriele 6-4. No. 3 double was left unfinished, with A&T double Mathieu Dussaubat and Ian Pedersen leading Gabe Hurtado and Davide Innocenti 5-4.

“Doubles was really tight and we had our chances,” Blanco said. “We lost, but if we had been a bit more involved we would have taken it.”

UNCW led 2-0 when Dussaubat lost to Samuel de Felipe Garcia 6-2, 6-1. Then, at No. 1 singles, Flack ended Lopez’s seven-match singles winning streak with a 6-3, 6-2 victory. Lopez’s last loss came on March 19 in a three-set loss to Norfolk State’s Federico Rebecchini. He is 10-4 on the season.

Innocenti beat Pedersen at No. 4 singles 6-2, 6-1 to beat the Seahawks. Pedersen lost for just the second time this season in singles as he fell to 12-2.

“We don’t take this loss as the end of the world,” said Bivens. “We’re going to use that to motivate us even more. We lost to a reigning CAA championship team, but we’ll turn up the heat the next time we play this team or any team. I’m not going to let us forget this loss. We love to win. , and we’re going to win again. I promise.” “

In the unfinished games, the Aggies looked competitive against the continued power of CAA. Ivano led Mallory 7-5, 1-0 at No. 3 singles. At No. 5 singles, Martinez won the first set over de Gabriele 7-6, 7-5 in the semifinals to fall 1-0 at second. Meanwhile, Blanco lost the first set at No. 2 singles to Hurtado, 6-3, but led 4-2 at the end of the match.

“I was really angry,” Blanco said of the cancellation of his match. “The guy was solid but I knew if the match had gone on I would have taken it. But overall it was a good tight match at a really high level.”

The Aggies will look to get back to their winning ways on Friday when they take on Greensboro school Guilford College at 2 p.m. on Friday, April 14 at the Dorothy Ragsdale McMichael ’37 Centennial Class Court.