The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men’s tennis team came up just short of capping off an incredible weekend at the prestigious HEB Tournament of Champions in front of a crowd of 350 fans. #52 TAMUCC fell by a 4-0 score to #35 Texas Tech, capping off a great weekend for the Islanders and the Corpus Christi tennis community.

“Our team is so very grateful to HEB and this Corpus Christi tennis community,” said Director of Tennis Steve Moore. “You could really tell it by the extra special way they fought this weekend.”

The tournament is a 44-year tradition that continues to grow and get stronger thanks to the generous donations by HEB, the tournament’s title sponsor. HEB has given continually to the Islanders and the tournament while helping grow the tennis community in the Corpus Christi area.

“This tournament is arguably the most prestigious high level team tournament in the country,” said Moore. “44 years in a row is a very special tradition and I can’t thank HEB enough for their long generous support.”

In the championship match, the teams started with the doubles matches which were won by Texas Tech with a 2-1 score to take an early 1-0 advantage. In No. 1 doubles, Mikhail Pavlov and Dmitry Novikov took on Christian Rojmar and Raony Carvalho, defeating them 8-5 to open the day. In No. 2 doubles, Jose Zunino and Laurent Montoisy faced off against Michael Breler and Sinisa Markovic, falling by a 9-7 final. No. 3 doubles saw James Langford and David Pace square off against Gonzalo Escobar and David Gonzalez, losing a tough 8-6 match.

In the singles matches, the Islanders were unable to hold off the Red Raiders, fighting valiantly before falling by a 4-0 final.

“I’m incredibly proud of the way they competed but I have to give credit to Texas Tech,” said Director of Tennis Steve Moore. “Texas Tech coach Tim Siegel was my mentor when I was an assistant there and in my mind he is the best college tennis coach in the country.”

No. 1 singles pitted Pavlov and Markovic with Markovic taking the match by a 6-4, 6-2 score. No. 2 singles featured Montoisy and Carvalho in a 6-4, 6-4 match with Carvalho coming out on top. Novikov and Escobar played the No. 3 singles match but the match would go unfinished. Zunino and Rojmar also went unfinished in the No. 4 singles match. Jaume Farras played Breler in the No. 5 singles matchup with Farras falling 6-3, 6-4 to clinch the match. Langford played No. 6 singles against Gonzalez as they also went unfinished.

The tournament championship match wraps up another successful HEB Tournament of Champions Through the generous donations and sponsorships of HEB, the TAMUCC tennis program is able to host a very successful and prestigious tournament, arguably the top tournament in the nation. Throughout the 44-year history, the university and the community have been able to grow the tournament into a special event that continues every year due to the generous donations of the title sponsor.

“What more can you say about this tennis community, they housed over 100 people in the last two weeks and several hundred of them came out to the match, said Moore. “It’s just kind of special playing here, the 44-year tradition of this tournament; it was a heck of a run for us.”

The end of the tournament ends an impressive weekend for the Islanders, having beat #33 New Mexico 4-1 in the semifinals and beating #53 Middle Tennessee 4-0 in the opening round on Friday. Those two wins enabled the Islanders to reach the finals of the HEB Tournament of Champions for the second year in a row.

“These guys really cherish the chance to play in front of this great Corpus Christi crowd,” said Moore. “I honestly believe this is the best tennis city in the country, when you have 350 people at a tennis match that really says something about the community.”

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