FLUSHING, N.Y. – Concluding the week in cross-divisional play, the Queens College men's tennis team welcomed Division I Atlantic 10 member Fordham University to the QC Indoor Tennis Bubble.
Queens secured the doubles point before claiming three singles victories, highlighted by senior
Lucas Foix Sotos (Javea, Spain) clinching the match at No. 1 singles in a three-set thriller to lift the Knights to a 4-2 victory.
With the win, Queens improves to 6-0 overall on the season.
DOUBLES PLAY
A new pairing at No. 3 doubles of Foix Sotos and junior
Tim Andersson (Linkoping, Sweden) gave Queens its first victory of the afternoon, defeating Will Lokier and Nicolas Garnier by a score of 6-1.
The Knights secured the doubles point at the top flight as senior
Alexis Martin-Gibiard (Saint-Remy-de-Provence, France) and sophomore
Adam Laur (Boulogne Billancourt, France) battled past Dhillon Virdee-Oakley and Mateusz Gradzki in a tightly contested match that went the distance, 7-6
(8-6).
At No. 2 doubles, another new pairing took the court as sophomore
Samuel Linck (Haarlem, Netherlands) and junior
Said Akbarov (Uzbekistan) teamed up for the first time this season. In a competitive battle against Dhananjay Athreya and Filip Horak, the Rams duo earned a 7-6
(7-3) victory to prevent the doubles sweep.
SINGLES PLAY
Making his singles debut at the No. 4 position, Akbarov fell to Lokier 6-4, 6-1 as Fordham evened the match at 1-1.
Queens quickly regained momentum with back-to-back victories. Laur delivered a dominant performance at No. 2 singles, defeating Horak 6-1, 6-1, before Linck followed with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Diego Cueto at the No. 6 spot to give the Knights a 3-1 lead.
Fordham narrowed the gap when Andersson dropped a hard-fought three-set battle at No. 3 singles to Virdee-Oakley, 2-6, 6-2, 6-4.
At the top of the lineup, Foix Sotos provided the clincher. The senior opened with a 6-4 first-set victory over Gradzki, before Gradzki responded with a thrilling second-set tiebreak win, 7-6
(7-5), to force a deciding set. Foix Sotos regrouped in the third set and earned the clinching victory to seal the match for the Knights.
NEXT UP:
The Knights return to Division II action on Monday, March 9, when they host the Franklin Pierce University Ravens. First serve is scheduled for 1 p.m.
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