Mar. 11, 2018
ATHENS, Georgia – The No. 5 Texas A&M men's tennis team claimed the program's first ever win at Georgia Sunday afternoon in Athens. The Aggies (10-3, 3-0) topped the No. 21 Bulldogs (7-5, 0-3) in the Lindsey Hopkins Indoor Courts after inclement weather forced the match inside.
No. 10 Arthur Rinderknech clinched the historic victory in the Peach State in dramatic fashion. The senior raced out to a 6-3 first set win before dropping a tiebreaker in the second set. In the tight third set, Rinderknech and No. 24 Wayne Montgomery traded blows before a deciding tiebreaker was required. Rinderknech won the tiebreaker 7-2 to clinch the A&M victory.
The No. 14 tandem of Jordi Arconada and Juan Carlos Aguilar served up a bagel to open doubles play. The duo bested Wayne Montgomery and Nathan Ponwith 6-0 on doubles court two. The Maroon & White clinched the day's first point as Valentin Vacherot and AJ Catanzariti bested Robert Loeb and Eric Diaz 6-4 on doubles court three. The Aggies claimed the doubles point for the seventh time in 11 matches this spring.
Since the match was played indoors, only four matches could be played at a time. The Aggies maintained scoreboard pressure, winning three of the four first sets. Arconada continued his impressive play, winning 6-4, 6-1 over No. 81 Nathan Ponwith on court three. The win pushed the A&M advantage to 2-0 and was the senior's 53 dual match singles victory, just one win shy of the all-time top-25 in program history.
The Bulldogs put up a fight earning the next point in the match and forcing two others to third sets. No. 47 Emil Reinberg topped No. 27 Patrick Kypson on the top court, 6-4, 6-4 to earn Georgia's lone point of the day. No. 31 Vacherot and Rinderknech bounced back from dropping tight second sets to earn wins and secure the victory for the visitors.
Vacherot earned a 6-4 first set victory before dropping a tight 7-5 second set to No. 14 Walker Duncan. In the third and final set, the sophomore earned a late break to earn a 6-5 advantage before holding serve and winning 7-5. Moments later, Rinderknech gutted out a third-set tiebreaker over Montgomery to clinch the Aggies first ever win at Georgia.
Texas A&M 4, Georgia 1
Singles Competition
1. #47 Emil Reinberg (UGA) def. #27 Patrick Kypson (TAMU) 6-4, 6-4
2. #10 Arthur Rinderknech (TAMU) def. #24 Wayne Montgomery (UGA) 6-3, 6-7 (1-7), 7-6 (7-2)
3. #37 Jordi Arconada (TAMU) def. #81 Nathan Ponwith (UGA) 6-4, 6-1
4. #31 Valentin Vacherot (TAMU) def. #14 Walker Duncan (UGA) 6-4, 5-7, 7-5
5. #21 Jan Zielinski (UGA) vs. Juan Carlos Aguilar (TAMU) 3-6, 3-4, unfinished
6. Robert Loeb (UGA) vs. #109 AJ Catanzariti (TAMU) 6-1, 3-1, unfinished
Doubles Competition
1. Walker Duncan/Jan Zielinski (UGA) vs. #37 Patrick Kypson/Arthur Rinderknech (TAMU) 5-6, unfinished
2. #14 Juan Carlos Aguilar/Jordi Arconada (TAMU) def. Wayne Montgomery/Nathan Ponwith (UGA) 6-0
3. Valentin Vacherot/AJ Catanzariti (TAMU) def. Alex Diaz/Robert Loeb (UGA) 6-4