Men’s tennis wraps up play in Macon

The Troy men’s tennis team wrapped up play at the Mercer Gridiron Classic on Sunday in Macon, Georgia.

The three-day event was hosted by Mercer University and featured fellow Sun Belt team Georgia Southern.

The Trojans were led in singles play by freshman Jaiqi Duan, who capped off his weekend with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Mercer’s Nicolas Guillon on the third day of play.

Sophomore Gabriel Niculescu played a close match on the second day, but fell to Mercer’s Sam Philp 6-7, 6-3, 10-8. Freshman Shaaz Peerani rounded out singles play for the Trojans, falling 6-4, 2-6, 10-5 to another Bear, Phillip Johnston.

In doubles play, junior Mustapha Belcora and Bedwan led Troy, advancing to the second day of play. The tandem defeated Mercer’s Johnston and Jordan Mark 6-1 on day one, but they fell to the hosts’ freshmen Olivier Stuart and Efstathios Tsiranidis on the second, 7-6.

The Trojans will have little time to rest before returning to the courts on Friday, Oct. 14, when they travel to Auburn to play in the ITA/USTA Regionals. The tournament is a four-day event.