FORT WORTH – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men's tennis team competed on the singles courts Thursday to open the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Texas Regional at TCU's Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center. 
 
Freshman Ivo Isqueiro bounced back well after dropping the first set of his qualifying round of 64 match, 6-1, to push Abilene Christian's Benjamin McDonald in the second before falling, 7-5. In the consolation round of 32, Isqueiro picked up a solid 7-5, 6-1 win over TCU's Luke Swan. After fighting through a gritty first set, Isqueiro used his big serve to knock Swan out of rhythm and handily take the second set to secure the win.
 
Sophomore McAllen Memorial alum Agustin Salazar played his first opponent as tight as possible, dropping a tough 7-6 (7:5), 7-6 (7:5) battle to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi's (AMCC) Iannis Fernandes in the qualifying round of 64. Junior Sam Whitehead also had a nice rebound in the second set of his match against UT Arlington's Yazid Lahjomri but fell 6-1, 7-5. Salazar and Whitehead were slated to face each other in the consolation bracket but did not play the match. 
 
Freshman Hasith Gummuluru was defeated 6-2, 6-1 in his opening match against SMU's Callaway Clark. He fell 6-2, 6-0 in the consolation bracket to AMCC's Etienne Marty. 
 
Senior Emilien Burnel will begin his regionals campaign Friday in the main draw round of 64 with a 1 p.m. match against Martin Breysach from Baylor. 
 
Doubles action will begin Friday. Burnel and Whitehead will form one doubles team, while Salazar and Isqueiro join forces to take on matches that will be announced Thursday evening. 
 
UTRGV Thursday Results
Singles Qualifying Draw 
Round of 64 
Iannis Fernandes (AMCC) def. Agustin Salazar (UTRGV) 7-6 (7:5), 7-6 (7:5) 
Yazid Lahjomri (UTA) def. Sam Whitehead (UTRGV) 6-1, 7-5 
Benjamin McDonald (ACU) def. Ivo Isqueiro (UTRGV) 6-1, 7-5 
Callaway Clark (SMU) def. Hasith Gummuluru (UTRGV) 6-2, 6-1 
 
Consolation Round of 32 
Ivo Isqueiro (UTRGV) def. Luke Swan (TCU) 7-5, 6-1 
Etienne Marty (AMCC) def. Hasith Gummuluru (UTRGV) 6-2, 6-0 
 
Friday Schedule 
Doubles 
Round of 64 
Emilien Burnel/Sam Whitehead (UTRGV) vs. Jonas Gundacker/Takeyasu Sekiguchi (TTU), 9 a.m. 
 
Round of 32
Agustin Salazar/Ivo Isqueiro (UTRGV) vs. Micah Braswell/Jonah Braswell (UT), 10 a.m. 

Singles Main Draw 
Round of 64 
Emilien Burnel (UTRGV) vs. Martin Breysach (BU), 1 p.m. 

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