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ARLINGTON, Texas \u2013 For the first time of the spring season, the UT Arlington men’s tennis team is in action on its home court. The Mavericks host a pair of matches this week, the first against the Abilene Christian Wildcats at noon Thursday and the second against Tyler Junior College at 11 a.m. Saturday.<\/p>\n
Both matches will take place at the UTA Tennis Center.<\/p>\n
UTA (0-5) is coming off an 0-2 road trip to Norman, Oklahoma this past weekend. The Mavericks lost to Oklahoma 4-0 and New Mexico 6-1. UTA’s lone point of the weekend came courtesy of Novak Ivanovic<\/a>, who was ahead of the Lobos’ Jan Skerbatis in the second set before a retirement ended the bout. It was Ivanovic’s second singles win of the spring.\u00a0<\/p>\n Earlier in the match against New Mexico, UTA’s Court 1 duo of Axel Delva<\/a> and Yazid Lahjomri<\/a> bested Skerbatis and Tyler Waddock 7-6 (7-5). Delva also battled Waddock in a three-set singles match on Court 4 that ended in a Waddock victory.<\/p>\n Against Oklahoma, Lahjomri played Oscar Lacides \u2014 the ITA No. 72 ranked singles player \u2014 tough, but their match was left unfinished with Lacides holding a 4-3 lead in the second set.<\/p>\n The Mavericks are 8-4 all-time against Abilene Christian. UTA had won five in a row in the series until the Wildcats defeated the Mavericks 4-2 in last year’s Western Athletic Conference tournament. UTA is 3-0 all-time against Tyler Junior College, sweeping the Apaches 4-0 in each of the past two seasons.\u00a0<\/p>\n Scouting Abilene Christian Nakamine has been a standout for the Wildcats, winning three of his first five matchups in singles play. The sophomore played exclusively on Court 1, only losing his bouts against No. 3 TCU’s Duncan Chan and No. 2 Texas’ Sebastian Gorzny.<\/p>\n Scouting Tyler Junior College
FOLLOW ALONG
\nThe Wildcats (3-3) and the Mavericks have a pair of common opponents in Oklahoma and TCU. Abilene Christian fared slightly better against Oklahoma, picking up a point when Luis Jose Nakamine knocked off Lacides in a Court 1 singles matchup, but still fell 6-1. The Wildcats also lost 7-0 to TCU.<\/p>\n
\nThe Apaches faced off against Abilene Christian in January, dropping the bout 4-2. Tyler’s Court 2 doubles team of Alejandro Pardo and Enrico Franchi won their match and an Abilene Christian forfeit on doubles Court 3 and singles Court 6 helped secure the Apaches two points.
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\n\u2013 #BuckEm \u2013<\/p>\n
\nFor updates, behind-the-scenes photos, videos and more engaging and personal content, be sure to follow the men’s tennis program on X (formally known as Twitter) (@utamavsmtennis<\/a>) Instagram (@utamavsmtennis<\/a>) and Facebook (\/utamavsmtennis)<\/a>.<\/p>\n