Sept. 23, 2011
ATHENS, Ga. - The Auburn men's tennis team opened the 2011 fall season with three singles victories and a doubles win on the opening day of the Southern Intercollegiate at the Dan Magill Tennis Center.
"Overall it was a good day today, going 4-1 in singles and doubles," Auburn head coach Eric Shore said. "Tomorrow we'll have to play better. Obviously, why we're here is to get some matches under our belt. I saw some good things today, so we're looking forward to tomorrow and seeing how we fare."
Playing in the Division II singles bracket, three Tigers advanced to Saturday's second round. Interestingly, all three Auburn players won their matches when the opponent retired with an injury. Junior Michael Wardell kicked off his season with an impressive 6-0, 3-0 (ret.) win over East Tennessee State's Robin Akser; he will face Austin Powell of NC State on Saturday morning.
Junior Lucas Lopasso also advanced to the second round with a 7-5, 3-2 (ret.) victory over Tanner Brown of Lipscomb. On the opposite side of the bracket, sophomore Liam Gomez opened his season with a win over Joao Pagan of Mercer, 6-3, 3-0 (ret.). The only Auburn defeat on the day came as sophomore Rafael Rondino dropped a three-set decision to Virginia Tech's Jon Pine, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2.
Lopasso will face Mathieu Froment of Minnesota in Saturday's second round, and Gomez will face Shea Thomas from Liberty.
In Division II doubles, Wardell and Gomez teamed up for the first time and earned an 8-4 victory over the Georgia Southern duo of Albert Codino Sala and Alain Garrido. They will square off against Jon and Zach Pine of Virginia Tech at 7:45 a.m. Saturday. Lopasso and Rondino will also team up to face John Bauerle and Vincent DeLise of Mercer in Saturday doubles action.
Auburn Results
Singles - Division II - Round of 64
Michael Wardell (AU) def. Robin Akser (ETSU), 6-0, 3-0 (ret.)
Lucas Lopasso (AU) def. Tanner Brown (Lipscomb), 7-5, 3-2 (ret.)
Liam Gomez (AU) def. Joao Pagan (Mercer), 6-3, 3-0 (ret.)
Jon Pine (Va. Tech) def. Rafael Rondino (AU), 5-7, 6-4, 6-2
Doubles - Division II - First Round
Michael Wardell/Liam Gomez (AU) def. Albert Codina Sala/Alain Garrido (Ga. Southern), 8-4