Day One of ITA National Fall Championships Wraps

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The final and most prestigious tournament of the fall season is underway. Arkansas brought five players, sophomores Aleksa Bucan, Melvin Manuel, Adrien Burdet and Riccardo Trione as well as freshman Oscar Pinto Sansano, to San Diego to compete in the ITA National Fall Championships with the chance to claim the highest college tennis honor of the fall. 

Bucan was the first Razorback on the court Thursday, and he delivered with a first round victory over Columbia’s Alex Kotzen, 7-5, 7-6. Bucan moves on to face the No. 8 seed, JJ Tracy from Ohio State in the round of 16 Friday. 

Both Arkansas doubles teams in San Diego drew tough matchups. Pinto Sansano and Trione took on the No. 4 seeded duo of Alexandre Rotsaert and Arthur Fery of Stanford, and fell, 6-0, 7-5. Manuel and Burdet were tasked with taking on the No. 1 seeds in the draw, Matej Vocel and Robert Cash. The Razorbacks fell behind early and couldn’t make their way back, losing 6-2, 6-4.

Both Arkansas doubles teams will transition play to the consolation bracket. Manuel and Burdet take on Roberts Grinvalds and Andrei Duarte of Georgia state and Pinto Sansano and Trione will face Sasha Trkulja and Matthew Hollingworth of Gonzaga. Both those matches are set to start at 9:30 p.m. CT. 

Bucan will continue his run through the main draw of the singles bracket, next facing Tracy at 11 a.m. CT.

For updates, follow @RazorbackMTEN on Twitter.