Cards Rally in Singles to Down No. 24 Miami

Friday, March 18

LOUISVILLE, KY

3:00 PM

University of Louisville

MIAMI

March 18, 2022 | Men's Tennis

Box Score

Natan Rodrigues won in a third set to clinch the match for the Cardinals.

By: Grady Dillon

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The University of Louisville men's tennis team defeated No. 24 Miami 4-2 on Friday afternoon at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center.

The victory marked the Cardinals' first win over a top-25 team since defeating No. 10 Virginia 4-3 on Jan. 18, 2020, and the team improves its record at home to 9-0.

Miami clinched the doubles point with a 6-2 win on court 3 and a 6-4 win on court 2 to jump out to an early 1-0 lead.

The Cardinals evened the match at 1-1 after Josh Howard-Tripp defeated Benjamin Hannestad 6-2, 6-2. Both teams traded the next two singles points as Miami won 6-1, 6-4 on Court 2 and Sergio Hernandez outlasted Martin Katz 7-6, 6-3 to tie the match at 2-2.

David Mizrahi fell 4-6 in the first set to Franco Aubone but rallied back in the second set 6-4 to send the match to a third set. Mizrahi edged out Aubone 7-6 (7-5) to give the Cardinals a 3-2 lead in the match.

Natan Rodrigues cruised to a 6-2 win in the first set against Juan Martin Jalif only to see the match go to a third set after Jalif won the second set 6-7 (5-7). The freshman defeated Jalif 7-5 in the third set to record the first match-clinching win of his young career.

"It was a great match for us against a great team in Miami," assistant coach Mario Rincon said. "The guys battled the entire three hours and we're very proud of them. It's a group that always brings their best effort to the court and we're ready for Florida State on Sunday."

Louisville improves to 12-5 (4-1 ACC) with the win while Miami falls to 12-5 (1-4 ACC) with the loss.

Up next, the Cardinals will return to the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center on Sunday to face No. 35 Florida State at noon.

Tennis Match Results
Miami vs Louisville Men's Tennis
3/18/2022 at Louisville, KY
(Bass-Rudd Tennis Center)

No. 47 Louisville 4, No. 24 Miami 2

Singles competition
1. #96 Etienne Donnet (LOU-MT) vs. #99 Dan Martin (UM) 6-7 (4-7), 7-5, 5-4, unfinished
2. Josh Howard-Tripp (LOU-MT) def. Benjamin Hannestad (UM) 6-2, 6-2
3. Bojan Jankulovski (UM) def. Tin Chen (LOU-MT) 6-1, 6-4
4. Sergio Hernandez (LOU-MT) def. Martin Katz (UM) 7-6 (7-5), 6-3
5. Natan Rodrigues (LOU-MT) def. Juan Martin Jalif (UM) 6-2, 6-7 (5-7), 7-5
6. David Mizrahi (LOU-MT) def. Franco Aubone (UM) 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5)

Doubles competition
1. Natan Rodrigues/Matthew Fung (LOU-MT) def. Juan Martin Jalif/Franco Aubone (UM) 4-3
2. Benjamin Hannestad/Martin Katz (UM) def. Etienne Donnet/Alex Wesbrooks (LOU-MT) 6-4
3. Dan Martin/Bojan Jankulovski (UM) def. Sergio Hernandez/Tin Chen (LOU-MT) 6-2

Match Notes:
Miami 12-5; National ranking #24
Louisville Men's Tennis 12-5; National ranking #47
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2); Singles (2,3,4,6,5)