Sept. 17, 2010

Complete Results

MIDLAND, Texas - On the opening day of the 2010 fall season, two Baylor men's tennis student-athletes got some early season experience at the Racquet Club Collegiate Invitational in Midland, Texas, on Friday.

Sergio Ramirez kicked off his senior season with a three-set victory over Conor Berg of New Mexico 6-4, 3-6, 14-12 in a super tiebreaker. Ramirez will take on Clifford Marsland of Tulsa, who is the tournament's seventh overall seed, in round of 16 action on Saturday at 9 a.m.

"Sergio's match was really exciting and had a great finish," assistant coach Chris Brandi said. "Sergio hasn't played a singles match in some time, so it was really good to see him beat a pretty good player and really come through in the clutch. He just hung in there and picked the right spots to be aggressive."

The debut of Verzaal did not go as well as the freshman began his Baylor career by falling to David Pace of Texas Tech, 6-4, 6-4, and then dropping another 6-4, 6-4 decision to Chris Camillone of Texas. The two losses ended Verzaal's weekend in singles action.

"It is a big transition from junior tennis to college tennis and we have made a lot of changes in Robert's game since school started," Brandi said. "He is doing a great job sticking with his game plan and he is really improving every day. Even though he didn't get a singles win here, he is on the right track and doing some positive things."

The duo of Ramirez and Verzaal capped off the night with an 8-6 doubles win over Texas Tech's Pace and Jeff Bryan. The Baylor tandem will now move on to quarterfinal action on Saturday against an opponent to be determined.

"The pair had practiced maybe once together, so it is still pretty new," Brandi said. "It is always different playing with a new partner and it took them a little while to get clicking, but they closed out this match very strong and I think they will play much better tomorrow."

For updated draws of the Racquet Club Collegiate Invitational visit the tournament's web site.