COLUMBUS, GA – The top two seeds will meet in the final match as both Flagler and Columbus State won their semifinal outings on Saturday at the PBC men’s tennis tournament in Columbus. Flagler escaped Lander 4-2 while Columbus State downed North Georgia 4-0.
Top-seeded Flagler stumbled out of the gate, dropping the doubles point to fourth-seeded Lander. LU’s Hugo Regner and Thomas De Negri beat Flagler’s Petr Cervinka and Jacopo Denitto 6-1 at third doubles. The Saints got back to even at second doubles with Jagger Ong-Patzwald and Nikita Tatyanin beating Lander’s Matthew De Groot and Bailey Horne 6-1.
Lander got the point at #1 doubles as Markus Sorensen and Nick Beamish won a back-and-forth affair over Flagler’s Oscar Del Granado and Philipp Lemken 7-5.
Flagler rebounded in singles, taking two quick points. Del Granado dispatched Horne 6-2, 6-1 at #1 singles while Denitto beat De Groot 6-2, 6-2 at fifth singles for a 2-1 Saints lead.
Flagler went up 3-1 following a 6-2, 7-5 win at fourth singles by Lemken over Nicolas Chan. Lander got another point at #6 singles with Alexandre Crepy outlasting Ong-Patzwald 1-6, 6-4, 6-3.
Flagler clinched at second singles where Tatyanin won a marathon against De Negri 4-6, 6-0, 7-5.
Columbus State and North Georgia also battled for the doubles point with CSU prevailing in three tough matches. The Cougars’ Pietro Martinetti and Tomasso Schold beat UNG’s Cole Brainard and Daniel Ostap 6-1 to begin the session, but North Georgia responded at #1 doubles with Joaquin Benoit and Ryan Gaskin beating Alvaro Regalado and Javier Cueto Ramos 6-2.
CSU took the point at third doubles with Christian Garay and Felix Steen edging Guilio Sassi and Zach Waldow 6-3.
Regalado, the PBC Player of the Year, rebounded in singles, beating Benoit 6-3, 6-1 at #1 singles for the second Cougar point. Martinetti got the third at sixth singles with a 6-2, 6-1 wino ver Sassi while Schold closed out the match at third singles with a 6-2, 7-6 win over Waldow.
Columbus State will be seeking their fifth consecutive PBC Tournament championship. Flagler is making their first appearance in the championship match after winning the PBC regular-season title.
The championship match will begin at 2:00 pm at the John W. Walden Tennis Center at Columbus State University.