Men's tennis team excels at ITA JUCO Southeast Regionals

The Eastern Florida State College men's tennis team dominated the 2023 ITA JUCO Southeast Regional Championship at Sand Mountain Park & Amphitheatre in Albertville, Alabama.

Hugo Car won the singles title and then teamed with Alexandr Achour to win the doubles title and advance to the ITA Cup.

The men's team had six players make the quarterfinals of the 83-player tournament and all four advanced to the semifinals and it was all-Titan finals in both singles and doubles.

In the quarterfinals, Car defeated Achour 6-1, 6-0 while Leong defeated ABAC's Luke Tinnock 6-2, 6-2. Jack Dixon, who entered as the No. 3 seed, beat teammate Pavel Kelo 6-4, 6-3 and No. 2 seed Eric Tripathi defeated Harford's Antonin Leborne 7-6(7-1), 6-1.

Car took on Dixon in the semifinals with Car winning in a tiebreaker 10-7 after the two split the first two sets.

Leong faced Tripathi and it also went to a tiebreaker with Leong winning 10-7 in a tight match. Tripathi won the first set 7-6(7-5) and Leong took the second set 6-3.

Car defeated Leong 6-0, 6-4 in the final.

Eastern Florida State College also excelled on the doubles side as Car and Achour defeated Leong and Tomas Quesada Perez.

Car and Achour teamed up after meeting in the quarterfinals in singles. The duo advanced to the championship by beating ABAC's Schaub and Tinnock in the semifinal, 6-4, 6-4.

In the other semifinal, Leong and Perez defeated No. 1 seed of Tripathi and Dixon in a tiebreaker 7-6(8-6), 3-6, 10-8.

In the championship match, Car and Achour won the doubles title by beating Leong and Perez 6-2, 6-2.

The winners qualify for the ITA Cup, a national championship held annually for the Division II, Division III, NAIA, and Junior College levels. This season the tournament will be held Oct. 12-16 at Rome Tennis Center in Rome, Georgia.