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Escallon shines brightest at Seminole Fall Classic

If the men’s fall tennis season is gauged by the amount of improvement, then with two matches left in the season it should be tallied as a success.

The improvements may not be visible to the average tennis spectator, but it is clearly apparent to the players.

The results are starting to improve and show the growth the team has made this season.

“We’ve been picking it up, we’ve put in a lot of effort,” Jorge Escallon said. “We’re picking it up nicely in both doubles and singles. We’re making a big improvement.”

Escallon showed his willingness to learn and improve this weekend during the Seminole Fall Classic.

He was defeated 6-3, 6-3 in the first round by Romain Jurd of Florida State and then corrected his mistakes and marched on to win the consolation round of Draw A.

Escallon rebounded to defeat Von Michaelis of Virginia State in the consolation quarterfinals 6-2, 6-3. He then defeated John Beckett of Furman 6-1, 6-2 in the semifinals.

In the consolation finals, Escallon defeated Rodrigo Laub of FSU 4-6, 6-2 (10-4).

Escallon credits his turn around to himself and the coaching staff noticing he wasn’t able to hold his serve as well as he should.

“It was both my serve and the coaching,” Escallon said. “You were always supported, and we worked out the problems really well.”

Escallon also used the advice to some success in doubles when he paired with Adrian Meier to reach the semifinals of the doubles A draw.

In the first round, they defeated Rich Davoli and Karnal El Bouzkouri of Jacksonville 8-2, then Matias Ormaza and Pablo Perez Gras of Georgia State 8-6.

In the quarterfinals Escallon and Meier beat Issac Yarrell and Kamau Murray of Florida A&M 8-3 before losing to Gustav Bucht and Jurd of FSU 3-8 in the semifinals.

Meier also made it to the semifinals in singles B draw. In Meier’s first tournament of the season he defeated El Bouzkouri after a first-round bye.

In the quarterfinals he defeated Adarn Kanaan of Central Florida 6-0. 6-0. Meier lost to Miguel Angelo of North Florida 6-4, 6-7, 6-2 in the semis.

“I’m quite satisfied with my first tournament,” Meier said. “I played very good the first two rounds. Also, in the semis I played very good and I really can see the progress.”

The other Bull to compete in the tournament, Eric Gildhorn, can also see the team’s improvement.

Gildhorn lost in the first round to Bucht of FSU 6-2, 6-2, then lost in the consolation round to Eric Ward of Furman 6-4, 7-6.

“This weekend we’ve improved again,” Gildhorn said. “Every weekend we keep improving, and if we keep doing that by January we’re going to be a very tough overall team.”

  • Bryan Fazio covers men’s tennis and can be reached at oraclebryan@yahoo.com