Baldo, Niculescu lead men’s tennis in Rice Invitational

The Troy men’s tennis team had a promising opening to its season at the Rice Collegiate Invitational.

Junior Andre Baldo and sophomore Gabriel Niculescu led the Trojans in Houston. Baldo won the singles C draw and Niculescu won a consolation draw in singles play.

Those wins mark the second of the last three fall events that featured two Trojans as singles champions.

Baldo defeated Nikita Pereverzin of Army in straight sets by scores of 6-4 and 6-2, while Niculescu ground out a victory in three sets, marking his debut as a Trojan with a win. He also won matches on every day of the three-day tournament in both singles and doubles play.

In doubles play, Baldo and Niculescu dropped their first match 4-8, but came back to win their second match against UTSA by a score of 8-5.

The Trojans showed competitiveness in the tournament, refusing to be shut out in any set over the course of the competition.  

Troy will look to continue its success going into another weekend tournament. It will travel to Macon, Georgia, where it will take part in the Mercer Gridiron Classic on Oct. 7-9.