No. 5 Patrick Kypson and No. 72 Valentin Vacherot of the Texas A&M men’s tennis team advanced to the NCAA Singles Round of 32 with wins Wednesday at the Wake Forest Tennis Center.
Vacherot got the day started with an impressive 6-2, 6-4 win over No. 19 Nicolas Alvarez of Duke. The sophomore improved to 30-12 on the year, making him the second Aggie on this season’s team to reach the 30-win mark. Vacherot will take on No. 35 Lucas Poullain of Florida State in Thursday’s second round.
“I played really good smart tennis today,” Vacherot said. “My serve was the key to the match and helped me get the straight set win. I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s match against a fellow Frenchman. I know Lucas (Poullain) and am familiar with his game so it should be a really good match.”
No. 5 Kypson joined Vacherot in the win column, topping No. 62 Jackie Tang of Columbia 6-4, 6-2. Kypson, who was named the 2018 ITA National Rookie of the Year Wednesday morning, improved to 17-10 on the year and will take on No. 47 Runhao Hua of Michigan on Thursday.
“I thought I played solid today and it was a good first match,” Kypson said. “I am looking forward to another challenge tomorrow.”
No. 48 Jordi Arconada saw his collegiate career in singles play come to a close with a 6-7(5), 7-5, 6-3 setback to No. 27 Victor Pham. Arconada rewrote the A&M records books with his stellar senior campaign, rocketing up to No. 10 on the career singles wins list and equaling the second most singles season dual victories with 25 this spring.
Arconada and freshman Juan Carlos Aguilar will take on No. 43 Jack Lin and William Matheson of Columbia as the national No. 3 seed in Thursday’s doubles draw at 2:30 p.m. (CT).
