Photograph by Miya Tanner for Texas Student Media
Third-seeded Alastair Gray, above, hasn’t lost a set en route to semifinals.
Only three matches are scheduled Saturday at the Greenview Development & Majestic Realty Men’s Pro Tennis Open at the Texas Tennis Center, but they offer a wealth of storylines. The singles semifinals start at 10 a.m. The doubles championship, with two singles semifinalists paired as one team, will start later in the day.
In one semifinal, second-seeded Duarte Vale of Portugal faces No. 8 seed and Longhorn senior Pierre-Yves Bailly, a Belgian who has a chance to repeat as singles champion.
I’m just trying to play solid … and stay mentally locked in during the match, and that’s it,” Bailly said.
Last year, Bailly won the title indoors when the final had to be moved because of rain. He said the slow hardcourts at the Texas Tennis Center don’t bother him. “I’ve been playing here for three and a half years, so I’ve been getting used to these courts,” he said. “I like the hardcourts outside; they fit my game well.”
The 25-year-old Vale, who has won two M15 titles, is going for his biggest ITF singles title. In an intense quarterfinal, Vale rallied past No. 5 Max Basing 3-6, 6-2, 6-3. Bailly has yet to drop a set.
In the other semifinal, No. 3 Alastair Gray of Great Britain faces No. 6 Stefan Dostanic in what should be a fast-paced match. Gray, who went to TCU, has reached the semifinals without losing a set; in fact, he’s pulled off two 6-0 sets.
Dostanic, who starred at USC, said he thought his game “matches up well” against Gray. “I like to dictate, I like to go for my big shots,” Dostanic said. “I’m really confident against anyone I play. He’s a very good player, he slices a lot, makes a lot of balls. I think it’s going to be a good match.” – Emily Rather
New Doubles Teams Vie for Title
Each doubles team is playing together for the first time. Pierre-Yves Bailly and Stefan Dostanic are pulling double duty on Saturday because of their respective singles matches. Their experience showed against the young team of Rohan Belday (18) and James Quattro (16), defeating them by 6-1, 6-4. Give the youngsters credit, though, as they didn’t fold and staged a mini-comeback when Bailly and Dostanic served for the match.
The top-seeded team of Cleeve Harper and Patrick Harper will face Bailly and Dostanic. Although Harper and Harper have never played together, they both have doubles success at UT – well, different UT’s. Patrick won the NCAA doubles title at the University of Tennessee in 2021 and Cleeve won NCAA doubles at University of Texas at Austin the following year. The doubles final begins after the singles semifinals. – Emily Rather