MOUNT BERRY, GA (October 13, 2024) -- Juniors
Sacha Maes and
Alex Ganchev finished what they started on Thursday afternoon, as the Tufts University men's tennis pair won the doubles crown at the 2024 Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Cup Sunday in action from Rome Tennis Center in Mount Berry, GA.
The doubles' crown at the ITA Cup was the first in program history for the Jumbos, and only second appearance in the doubles' final after teammates
Vuk Vuksanovic and
Derin Acaroglu made the finals back in 2022. Maes and Ganchev won the crown with a 7-6 (3), 7-5 win over Ethan Green and Kael Shah of Denison University.
The first set saw Green and Shah win the first two games, but Tufts' duo rallied with five straight games to take a 5-2 lead. Denison responded though with four straight games of its own to take a 6-5 lead, but Tufts won all four points in its service game to send the first set to a tiebreak. In the breaker, Tufts never trailed as it scored the first three points and seven of the first eight to cruise to the opening set victory.
In the second set, Maes and Ganchev used the momentum from the opening set win to open up a 3-0 lead as they broke the Denison serve up 1-0. Shah and Green battled back with with three straight games to get the set back on serve, but with the set tied 5-5, Tufts won its service game and then broke the Denison crew with the final three points of the match to earn the crown. Tufts was great in the return game on Sunday, and won five of its six break points on the day.
The event was the final event of the fall season for the Jumbos, who will return to action in March with the championship portion of its slate in 2025.
--JUMBOS--
