FLUSHING, N.Y. – Competing in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) East Regional Championship, the Queens College men's tennis student-athletes delivered an impressive performance.
Advancing to the championship matches on Monday, the doubles pair of senior
Alexis Martin-Gibiard (Saint-Remy-de-Provence, France) and sophomore
Adam Laur (Boulogne Billancourt, France) finished as runners-up in the doubles championship. Meanwhile, Laur, who played his third match of the day, also secured a runner-up finish in the singles final that same afternoon.
The run to the doubles finals marked the second time since the 2022 season that a Knights duo advanced to the championship match, following the appearance of Moritz Borges and Roni Rikkonen. Additionally, Laur became the third Knight in four seasons to advance to the singles championship match.
Doubles Recap
Seeded #2 in the doubles tournament, the pair of Martin-Gibiard and Laur opened their campaign with a tight 8-6 victory over St. Thomas Aquinas College Spartans duo Lorenzo Meschini and Nathan Yacar in the Round of 16.
The pair continued their momentum in the quarterfinals with a decisive 8-3 win against Adelphi University Panthers' #8 seeds Viktor Hockl and Spyridon Papageorgiou.
In the semifinals, the French duo faced off against their own teammates, #7 seeds junior
Tim Andersson (Linkoping, Sweden) and junior
David Cerne (Ljubljana, Slovenia), emerging victorious in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3, to secure their spot in Monday's final.
In a nail-biting championship match against #6 seeds Spartans Don Vinz Lominoque and Nagamitsu Kuroda, the Knights won the first set 6-4 but were pushed to a third-set tiebreaker after dropping the second 2-6. The match came down to a heartbreaking 10-8 loss in the tiebreak, with Martin-Gibiard and Laur finishing as runners-up in the doubles tournament.
Singles Recap
Laur, seeded #13 in the singles draw, began his run on Friday morning with a commanding 6-0, 6-1 win over Saint Michael's College's Jamie Macpherson. He followed that with a 6-0, 6-4 victory against Adelphi's Elouan Boyer in the Round of 32.
The sophomore then pulled off an upset in the Round of 16, defeating #7 seed Victor Tauson of St. Thomas Aquinas College 6-1, 6-3. Laur maintained his strong form with a 6-3, 6-1 win over #10 seed Spartan Ondrej Sramek in the quarterfinals.
In Monday's semifinal, Laur faced teammate senior
Lucas Foix Sotos (Javea, Spain) in a battle for the championship match berth. Laur took the first set 6-3, dropped the second 4-6, but rallied to win the decisive third set 6-3, earning his spot in the final.
Playing his third match of the day in the singles final, Laur battled fiercely but ultimately fell to STAC #15 Henry Ronnberg in straight sets 6-7
(3-7), 3-6, wrapping up an impressive tournament run as the singles runner-up.
NEXT UP:
The Knights will have a short break before returning to dual competition on Thursday, October 9, when they welcome the Assumption University Greyhounds to town. First serve is scheduled for noon.
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