THE UST Male Tennisters pulled off a 3-2 victory over the defending champions NU Bulldogs to claim the remaining twice-to-beat bonus in the UAAP Season 88 men’s tennis tournament on Wednesday, March 18, at the Colegio San Agustin-Bulacan Tennis Court.
Locking up the No. 2 seed, UST needs just one win over NU in the semifinals starting Saturday, March 21, at the same venue.
The España squad opened the match with a win from Ericjay Tangub, who dispatched Isaac Lim, 6-3, 6-4, in the third singles.
NU, however, responded with back-to-back wins in the next two singles bouts.
Bulldog Alexis Acabo outplayed Cristopher Sonsona, 6-2, 7-5, in the first singles, before Andrei Padao downed Evan Bacalso, 6-4, 6-4, in the second singles.
Down 2-1, the UST duo of Steven Sonsona and Al-Zayeed Baid delivered a 6-1, 6-4 win over Jules Lazaro and Miguel Vicencio in the second doubles to even things up, 2-all.
With the Final Four incentive on the line, Male Tennisters Nash Agustines and Richard Bautista clutched up at the right moment to survive NU’s Angil Balaoing and Christian Padilla in the first doubles match to seal the deal, 6-4, 7-6(1).
Both UST and NU finished the elimination round at 9-3. F
