Tulane Men’s Tennis Goes 1-2 in the Blue-Gray National Tennis Classic

Friday, February 25

Montgomery, Alabama

Tulane University

Middle Tennessee

Tulane Men’s Tennis Goes 1-2 in the Blue-Gray National Tennis Classic

Feb 26, 2022 | Men's Tennis

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The No. 48 Tulane University men's tennis team picked up one win in three matches at the Blue-Gray National Tennis Classic this weekend. The Green Wave earned a victory over Alabama on Saturday and suffered losses to No. 30 Middle Tennessee Friday and No. 25 Auburn Saturday.

"We had a really tough one against Auburn but showed a lot of fight and focus and maturity compared to the last time we played them a couple weeks ago," head coach Mark Booras said. "It just came down to a couple points this time and things could've turned our way."

To begin the action in Alabama Luka Petrovic picked up a victory for Tulane in singles play against Oskar Bostrom Poulsen 6-3, 6-4. The Green Wave dropped four other singles matches to fall to the Blue Raiders in the first round of the Blue-Gray National Tennis Classic.

Tulane opened the second round of the event by taking the doubles point against Alabama. The duos of Fynn Kuenkler and Luc Hoeijmans and Billy Suarez and Rafael de Alba picked up wins of 6-3 and 7-5, respectively, to give the Wave the doubles point to open round two on Friday. After the Wave lost the first two singles matches Hoeijmans, Petrovic and de Alba finished off the match against the Crimson Tide by picking up wins on the singles courts on Saturday.

The Green Wave wrapped up the weekend with a tough matchup against No. 25 Auburn Saturday afternoon. After dropping the doubles point to the Tigers, the Wave continued to battle in singles competition with four courts going to a third set. Unfortunately, Tulane was unable to earn any points in singles play losing the match 4-0 to 25^th-ranked Auburn.

"We've been talking about development as the focus with the guys this year day by day week by week match by match and this weekend our team showed a lot more maturity and belief in their abilities and started to embrace their identity as a team," Booras said.

The Green Wave will travel west to compete in the Arizona State Invitational from March 11-13.

No. 30 Middle Tennessee (12-3) defeated No. 48 Tulane (3-5), 4-1
Feb. 25, 2022, in Montgomery, Ala.
Lagoon Park
Singles

#80 Stijn Slump (MTSU) def. Luc Hoeijmans (Tulane) 6-1, 6-4
#115 Francisco Rocha (MTSU) def. Alex Bancila (Tulane) 6-1, 6-4
Chris Edge (MTSU) def. Fynn Kuenkler (Tulane) 6-4, 2-6, 6-1
Stepan Holis (MTSU) def. Billy Suarez (Tulane) 1-6, 6-4, 6-2
Luka Petrovic (Tulane) def. Oskar Poulsen (MTSU) 6-3, 6-4
Pavel Motl (MTSU) def. Rafael de Alba (Tulane) 1-6, 6-4, 4-1 unfinished

Order of Finish – 1,2,5,3,4^
^Clinched the overall match

No. 48 Tulane (4-5) defeated Alabama (3-8), 4-2
Feb. 26, 2022, in Montgomery, Ala.
Lagoon Park
Doubles

German Samofalov/Filip Planinsek (UA) def. Charlie Barry/Benji Jacobson (Tulane) vs. Gabriel 6-3
Fynn Kuenkler/Luc Hoeijmans (Tulane) def. Juan Martin/Rudi Christiansen (UA) 6-3
Billy Suarez/Rafael de Alba (Tulane) def. Joao Ferreira/Enzo Aguiard (UA) 7-5

Order of Finish – 1,3,2*
*Clinched the doubles point

Singles

Luc Hoeijmans (Tulane) def. Filip Planinsek (UA) 4-6, 6-1, 6-3
Enzo Aguiard (UA) def. Alex Bancila (Tulane) 6-2, 6-3
Fynn Kuenkler (Tulane) vs. German Samofalov 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 1-2 unfinished
Luka Petrovic (Tulane) def. Juan Martin (UA) 6-1, 2-6, 6-3
Rafael de Alba (Tulane) def. Joao Ferreira (UA) 6-2, 7-6 (7-3)
Zach Foster (UA) def. Charlie Barry (Tulane) 6-2, 6-2

Order of Finish – 2,6,5,1,4^
^Clinched the overall match

No. 25 Auburn (10-2) defeated No. 48 Tulane (4-6), 4-0
Feb. 26, 2022, in Montgomery, Ala.
O'Connor Tennis Center
Doubles

Maclean/Murgett (AU) def. Charlie Barry/Benji Jacobson (Tulane) 6-1
Galka/Stice (AU) def. Fynn Kuenkler/Luc Hoeijmans (Tulane) 6-3
Billy Suarez/Rafael de Alba (Tulane) vs. Dobai/Giddens (AU) 4-3 unfinished

Singles

#87 Tyler Stice (AU) def. Luc Hoeijmans (Tulane) 6-4, 7-6 (7-4)
#100 Jan Galka (AU) def. Alex Bancila (Tulane) 3-6, 6-2, 6-4
Fynn Kuenkler (Tulane) vs. #45 Tad Maclean (AU) 6-3, 4-6, 2-2 unfinished
Raul Dobai (AU) def. Luka Petrovic (Tulane) 6-4, 6-4
Rafael de Alba (Tulane) vs. Will Nolan (AU) 6-0, 6-7 (8-6), 0-2 unfinished
Charlie Barry (Tulane) vs. Finn Murgett 6-3, 2-6, 2-3 unfinished

DOWNLOAD THE OFFICIAL TULANE ATHLETICS APP
Download the official mobile app of Tulane Athletics. Now, you can stay in touch with the Green Wave anytime and anywhere on your Android or iOS mobile device.

FOLLOW THE GREEN WAVE
Follow Tulane men's tennis on Twitter and Facebook (@GreenWaveMTenn), as well as Instagram (@TulaneMTennis) for behind-the-scenes coverage of the program.

WE ARE NOLA BUILT
Tulane University is located in the city of New Orleans. It is a city built on tradition and resiliency. The lessons Green Wave student-athletes have learned through their connection with this university and city have BUILT doctors, lawyers, business leaders, conference champions, all-conference players, All-Americans, professional athletes and NCAA tournament teams. The city of New Orleans has shaped us into who we are today. We are One City. We are Tulane. We are NOLA BUILT. Check out our story at NolaBuilt.com.