ECU Opens Season With 7-0 Win Over NC Central

Friday, January 24

Greenville, N.C.

2:30 PM

East Carolina University

North Carolina Central

Photo by: Rob Taylor

January 24, 2020 | Men's Tennis

Box Score Box Score

GREENVILLE, N.C. – In the first match of the year, the ECU men's tennis team cruised to a 7-0 win over NC Central on Friday afternoon in the ECU Indoor Tennis Center.

"I thought we played well right out of the gate, especially at the top in doubles," said head coach Shawn Heinchon. "You are never exactly sure what you're going to get in your first match of the year, but I thought our guys did a solid job handling some nerves and getting through the singles. Good to get first match in the books, now it's on to Sunday against a tough UNC Ashville team."

ECU starts the year 1-0 while NC Central falls to 0-2.

The Pirates got out to an early lead thanks to a dominant effort on the top two doubles courts. Between Javier Renones and Wisse Jonker on court one and Diogo Marques
and Federico Masetti on court two, ECU dropped just two games with each pairing winning 6-1. On court three, Simon Labbe and Nelson Stafford had the lead at 6-5 after coming back from a 5-4 deficit, but could not close out the match and fell to Amit Baran and Miles Clark 7-6 (7-5) on court three.
ECU's dominance continued into the singles play. With only three courts at the ECU Indoor Tennis Center, Marques, Renones and Labbe were the first trio to start their matches for the Pirates. All three faced little resistance in the opening set. Labbe started his match with Dagklis on court three by winning the first set 6-1 and followed it with a 6-2 second set to clinch his victory.

Marques trailed Spyropoulos 2-1 after three games on court one, but was nearly unstoppable after that. The ITA's 103^rd-ranked singles player in the country won 11 of the next 12 games to finish off a 6-2, 6-1 win.

Renones earned the clinching point for the Pirates. Playing in his final home opener, the senior held the lead for most of the first set against Baran on court two, but trailed 4-3 in the second. He rallied to win the final three games and finish off a 6-3, 6-4 victory.

With the match clinched before he had even taken the court, Masetti took care of business in his first collegiate dual match. Masetti worked a 6-3, 6-0 win over Bromley on court four.

Jonker was in the tightest match of the day as it took a tiebreaker for him to dispatch Clark on court five. Early on it looked like Jonker might cruise to a win after he took the first set 6-1. However Clark rallied to win a 6-1 set of his own, sending the pair to a third-set tiebreaker. There, Jonker regained control by getting out to an early lead and he was able to finish off a 6-1, 1-6, 1-0 (10-7) win.

Stafford made it a clean sweep for the Pirates when he joined Masetti in getting his first dual match win. Stafford topped Torres 6-4, 6-4.

ECU will be back home on Sunday afternoon as the Pirates take on UNC Asheville. First serve is slated for 12 noon inside the ECU Tennis Center.

Singles Results
1. No. 103 Diogo Marques (ECU) def. Thanos Spyropoulos (NC Central) 6-2, 6-1
2. Javier Renones (ECU) def. Amit Baran (NC Central) 6-3, 6-4
3. Simon Labbe (ECU) def. Christos Dagklis (NC Central) 6-1, 6-2
4. Federico Masetti (ECU) def. Sebastian Bromley 6-3, 6-0
5. Wisse Jonker (ECU) def. Miles Clark (NC Central) 6-1, 1-6, 1-0 (10-7)
6. Nelson Stafford (ECU) def. Pablo Juez Torres (NC Central) 6-4, 6-4

Doubles Results
1. Javier Renones/Wisse Jonker (ECU) def. Christos Dagklis/Thanos Spyropoulos (NC Central) 6-1
2. Diogo Marques/Federico Masetti (ECU) def. Pablo Juez Torres/Sebastian Bromley (NC Central) 6-1
3. Amit Baran/Miles Clarkson (NC Central) def. Simon Labbe/Nelson Stafford (ECU) 7-6 (7-5)