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The Cornell Big Red men’s tennis team competes against Michigan State on Saturday, Feb. 2, 2020 in the Reis Tennis Center in Ithaca, NY.
Tim McKinney/Cornell Athletics

#54 South Florida Holds Off #50 Men's Tennis, 4-2

3/27/2022 4:08:00 PM

TAMPA, Fla. -- Seniors Alafia Ayeni and Pietro Rimondini both picked up singles wins, but No. 54 South Florida picked off 50th-ranked Cornell men's tennis on Sunday afternoon at the USF Varsity Tennis Courts. Cornell slipped to 11-5, while the Bulls improved to 9-9.

Ayeni dropped the first set before recovering to claim a 1-6, 6-3, 7-5 decision at No. 1 singles for the Big Red and to narrow the team score to 3-1 after the Bulls picked up the doubles point and a pair of singles wins. Rimnondini also rallied from a set down for a 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 win at No. 4 singles to momentarily get the Big Red back to 3-2, but USF closed out its victory at No. 2 with an even match at No. 6 that went unfinished. Ayeni also teamed with Vladislav Melnic for the lone doubles win, a 6-3 triumph over Rithvik Bollipalli and Bruno Oliveira. The Bulls held off the Big Red with 6-3 and 6-4 victories, with the No. 3 win for the home team the clincher.

The Big Red opens Ivy League season when it welcomes Dartmouth (Saturday, April 9 at 1 p.m.) and Harvard (Sunday, April 10 at 1 p.m.) to the Reis Tennis Center. 
Doubles
1. Alafia Ayeni/Vladislav Melnic (Cor) def. Rithvik Bollipalli/Bruno Oliveira (USF) 6-3
2. Chase Ferguson/Ivan Yatsuk (USF) def. Nathan Mao/Adit Sinha (Cor) 6-3
3. Sergio Gomez Montesa/Alvin Tudorica (USF) def. Radu Papoe/Muhammad Dossani (Cor) 6-4

Singles
1. Alafia Ayeni (Cor) def. Ivan Yatsuk (USFM) 1-6, 6-3, 7-5
2. Chase Ferguson (USFM) def. Vladislav Melnic (Cor) 1-6, 7-6 (9-7), 6-2
3. Antonio Muniz (USFM) def. Radu Papoe (Cor) 6-4, 6-4
4. Pietro Rimondini (Cor) def. Sergio Gomez Montesa (USFM) 2-6, 6-4, 6-2
5. Alvin Tudorica (USFM) def. Samuel Paquette (Cor) 6-0, 6-4
6. Tom Pisane (USFM) vs. Nathan Mao (Cor) 2-6, 7-6 (7-4), 4-4, unfinished

Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (5,3,1,4,2)
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