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Alexandre Leblanc celebrates his victory at the top singles position.
5
Winner FAU FAU (4-0)
2
William & Mary W&M (0-1)
Winner
FAU FAU
(4-0)
5
Final
2
William & Mary W&M
(0-1)

Match Recap: Men's Tennis |

Men's Tennis Drops Opener to FAU

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – Graduate student Alexandre Leblanc and freshman Nikita Bortnichek posted wins on the opening day of the 2024 dual-match season, but William & Mary suffered a 5-2 loss Florida Atlantic on Thursday evening at the McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center.
 
How It Happened
- The Tribe won the opening doubles match behind Leblanc and junior Sean Joseph's performance at No. 3. The Green and Gold tandem topped Joao Graca and Mark Havlicek, 6-4, to give W&M the early lead. It was the pair's first win together.
- FAU (4-0) rallied with close victories at the top two positions. The Owls' Jiri Jenicek and Simon Myslivec edged the Tribe duo of Konstantinos Raptis and Bill Duo in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (6), at No. 1 to give the visitor a 1-0 lead.
- At the top singles position, Leblanc topped Alberto Colas in straight-sets, 6-3, 7-5. The victory upped his ledger to 9-2.
- The balance of the match came down to a quartet of three-set matches at No. 2, No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6. FAU pulled out the victories at three of those spots to secure the team triumph.
- Bortnichek added a three-set win at No. 6 for the Tribe's second singles triumph. The rookie took the opening set, 6-1, from FAU's John Bernard. After the Owl player won the second, 6-4, Bortnichek notched a tiebreaker win in the third, 7-6 (4), for his fourth-straight vicotry. He improved to 7-3 on the year.
 
Up Next
The Tribe returns to action when it travels to Delaware for its first CAA match of the season on Sunday, Jan. 28. The contest is set for a 10:30 a.m. start time from the Wilmington Country Club in Wilmington, Del.  
 
FAU 5, William & Mary 2
Singles
No. 1 – Alexandre Leblanc (W&M) def. Alberto Colas (FAU) – 6-3, 7-5
No. 2 – Jiri Jenicek (FAU) def. Konstantinos Raptis (W&M) – 6-4, 3-6, 6-1
No. 3 – Joao Graca (FAU) def. Satchel Benn (W&M) – 6-3, 6-2
No. 4 – Juan Martin Jalif (FAU) def. Oliver Hague (W&M) – 7-6, 3-6, 6-3
No. 5 – Mark Havlicek (FAU) def. Sean Joseph (W&M) – 3-6, 6-2, 6-2
No. 6 – Nikita Bortnichek (W&M) vs. John Bernard (FAU) – 6-1, 4-6, 7-6 (4)
Finishing Order: 3, 5, 1, 2*, 6, 4
 
Doubles
No. 1 – Jenicek/Myslivec (FAU) def. Raptis/Duo (W&M) – 7-6 (6)
No. 2 – Colas/Jalif (FAU) def. Benn/Hague (W&M) – 6-4
No. 3 – Leblanc/Joseph (W&M) def. Graca/Havlicek (FAU) – 6-4
Finishing Order: 3, 2, 1*
 
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