FORT WORTH – Junior
Aleksander Hudjec and senior
Santiago Serrano both earned two wins to clinch their spots in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Texas Regional singles main draw on Thursday at TCU's Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center.
Hudjec and Serrano led The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men's tennis team to eight victories on the opening day of the ITA Texas Regional, doubling the team's singles win total from 2025. The pair will join fifth-year
Ivo Isqueiro in Friday's main draw.
Isqueiro and Serrano are making their second-consecutive appearance in the ITA Texas Regional main draw, and the Vaqueros are sending three to the main draw for the second-consecutive season. UTRGV is one of five programs to be sending at least two to the main draw after today's qualifying session including Baylor (BU), Rice, UIW, and UTSA.
UTRGV's three entries into the singles main draw is tied with UIW for the most of all the Southland Conference (SLC) programs. The other SLC programs represented in the draw are Lamar (2) and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (TAMUCC).
Hudjec started his run with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi's (TAMUCC)
Dan Hosono in the opening round. Hudjec carried the momentum into a hard-fought battle with tenth-seeded
Gus Tettamble from Abilene Christian. Hudjec dropped the first set, 6-3, to the fresh Tettamble before bouncing back for a dominant 6-1 second set win. In the decider, Hudjec pulled away with a 6-3 win to advance into the main draw.
Serrano opened the qualifying bracket with a 6-4, 6-2 win over ACU's
Alejandro Verdasco. Then, in his second match, Serrano jumped out with a big 6-2 first set win over Lamar's (LU) 17
th-seeded
Maxwell Lindstedt before Lindstedt battled back to take a hard-fought second set in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (8-6). Serrano battled in the decider and sealed the victory with a crosscourt, forehand winner to take the third 7-5.
Three other Vaqueros earned first round victories, including freshman
Miguel Bellorio Pinheiro and juniors
Camille Chantron and
Loic Young Kriegel.
Bellorio opened up his tournament with a swift 6-4, 6-1 win over
Bautista Durrels Rojo from UT Arlington (UTA) before falling to the ninth-seeded
Gordon Gallagher from BU in the second round.
At the bottom of the draw, Chantron also bested a UTA Maverick, earning a solid 6-4, 6-2 win over
Christopher Bennett Wirahadipoernomo. Chantron then matched up with the No. 2 seed
Thomas Van Den Dooren from Texas Tech (TTU). Chantron fought hard in the opening set, pushing Van Den Dooren the distance, before ultimately falling 7-6 (10:8). Van Den Dooren closed out the match with a 6-2 second set.
Meanwhile, Young started his tournament off with a win over fellow Southland Conference (SLC) foe
Carlos Mendoza Hernandez from UIW. Young fought off Mendoza Hernandez in a 7-5 opening set victory before carrying the momentum into a 6-2 second set.
In the consolation draw, freshman
Eoghan Samyn defeated ACU's David Kirchner, 7-6, 6-2.
The Vaqueros return to action Friday as Hudjec, Serrano and Isqueiro compete in the singles main draw, while doubles competition also gets underway.
Fans can follow along through the
tournament page on the ITA website.
UTRGV Thursday Results
Qualifying Round of 64
Aleksander Hudjec (UTRGV) def. Dan Hosono (TAMUCC), 6-4, 6-1
Miguel Bellorio Pinheiro (UTRGV) def. Bautista Durrels Rojo (UTA), 6-4, 6-1
Loic Young Kriegel (UTRGV) def. Carlos Mendoza Hernandez (UIW), 7-5, 6-2
Santiago Serrano (UTRGV) def. Alejandro Verdasco (ACU), 6-4, 6-2
Camille Chantron (UTRGV) def. Christopher Bennett Wirahadipoernomo (UTA), 6-4, 6-2
No. 11 Gabriel Jalouneix (UTSA) def. Tsz Him Chan (UTRGV), 6-3, 6-2
No. 13 Jorge Aza Casaseca (ACU) def.
Paolo Bonaguro (UTRGV), 6-4, 6-3
Leon Grassnickel (UTA) def.
Eoghan Samyn (UTRGV), 4-6, 6-2, 6-1
Qualifying Round of 32
Aleksander Hudjec (UTRGV) def. No. 10 Gus Tettamble (ACU), 3-6, 6-1, 6-3
Santiago Serrano (UTRGV) def. No. 17 Maxwell Lindstedt (LU), 6-2, 6-7 (8:6), 7-5
No. 2 Thomas Van Den Dooren (TTU) def.
Camille Chantron (UTRGV), 7-6 (10:8), 6-2
No. 9 Gordon Gallagher (BU) def.
Miguel Bellorio Pinheiro (UTRGV), 6-2, 6-2
No. 14 Seifelden Mostafa Samih (UTA) def.
Loic Young Kriegel (UTRGV), 6-3, 6-1
Consolation Qualifying Round of 32
Eoghan Samyn (UTRGV) def. David Kirchner (ACU), 7-6, 6-2
Joseph Patton (TTU) def. Tsz Him Chan (UTRGV), 6-4, 7-6 (7:4)
UTRGV Friday Schedule
Singles
Main Draw Round of 64
Ivo Isqueiro (UTRGV) vs. No. 9 Oliver Bonding (TCU), 12:30 p.m.
Santiago Serrano (UTRGV) vs. No. 6 Bor Artnak (TAMU), 12:30 p.m.
Aleksander Hudjec (UTRGV) vs. Lathan Skrobarcek (TAMU), 2 p.m.
Doubles
Main Draw Round of 32
Miguel Bellorio Pinheiro/
Santiago Serrano (UTRGV) vs. Meethre Barot/Petar Teodorovic (SMU), 9 a.m.
Paolo Bonaguro/Loic Young (UTRGV) vs. Noey Do/Arin Pallegar (Rice), 9 a.m.
Tsz Him Chan/
Aleksander Hudjec (UTRGV) vs. Axel Bergh/Rintaro Shukuda (Lamar), 9 a.m.
Camille Chantron/
Ivo Isqueiro (UTRGV) vs. Rafael Botran/Gabriel Porras (Rice), 9 a.m.
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