OWENSBORO, Kentucky - After a competitive regular season that saw three times tie atop the standings, the 2022 Great Midwest Men's Tennis Championship turned in a predictably tight pair of contests. Top two seeds Findlay and Tiffin advanced to Saturday's men's final, but not without having earned their wins.
In the day's first semi, Findlay led early but Hillsdale would tie the match by winning at Nos. 1, 2 and 5 singles. The match came down to No. 4 singles, where HC's Daniel Gilbert led 4-3 in the third set before Findlay's Dallas Ramsay answered to edge him 7-6 (7-4) to win it and clinch the match for the Oilers.
No. 2 Tiffin and No. 3 Walsh battled tightly at the top of the lineup, with All-Great Midwest honoree Ruben Fonga edging league player of the year Jakob Riglewski in three sets. Tiffin also earned the No. 2 singles point courtesy of a three-set win by Michael Gurtner. Walsh won at the bottom of the lineup to keep it close, but Matthew Weaver's win at No. 4 clinched the match and sent the Dragons to the final to face Findlay.
The men's title match between No. 1 Findlay and No. 2 Tiffin will start at 10 a.m. ET (9 CT) Saturday morning.
Semifinal 1 - Findlay 4, Hillsdale 3
DOUBLES
1: Alfredo Berlanga/Wilfredo Lara (UF) def. Sean Barstow/Tyler Conrad (HC) 6-4
2: Dallas Ramsay/Luigi Bove (UF) def. Brennan Cimpeanu/Daniel Gilbert (HC) 6-2
3: Octavio Carrasco/Mark Ivanov (UF) def. Bogdan Janicijevic/Matt Granzatto (HC) 6-2
SINGLES
1: Brennan Cimpeanu (HC) def. Luigi Bove (UF) 4-6, 6-4, 6-1
2: Tyler Conrad (HC) def. Alfredo Berlanga (UF) 6-1, 6-4
3: Wilfredo Lara (UF) def. Sean Barstow (HC) 6-2, 6-1
4: Dallas Ramsay (UF) def. Daniel Gilbert (HC) 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (7-4)
5: Matt Granzatto (HC) def. Andrew Codita (UF) 6-4, 6-4
6: Octavio Carrasco (UF) def. Bogdan Janicijevic (HC) 6-0, 6-1
Semifinal 2 - Tiffin 4, Walsh 2
DOUBLES
1: Michael Gurtner/Matthew Telford (TU) def. Jakob Riglewski/Alex Puigmarti (WU) 7-6 (7-1)
2: Ruben Fonga/Matthew Weaver (TU) def. Pedro Campos/Dawson Drummond (WU) 6-4
3: Gabriel de Oliveria/Cyrille Colomb (TU) vs. Blas Ruiz/Luis Hernandez (WU) 5-6 (unfinished)
SINGLES
1: Ruben Fonga (TU) def. Jakob Riglewski (WU) 1-6, 6-4, 6-1
2: Michael Gurtner (TU) def. Luis Hernandez (WU) 2-6, 6-3, 6-2
3: Matthew Telford (TU) vs. Blas Ruiz (WU) 5-7, 7-5, 2-1 (unfinished)
4: Matthew Weaver (TU) def. Dawson Drummond (WU) 6-4, 3-6, 6-4
5: Alex Puigmarti (WU) def. Cyrille Colomb (TU) 7-5, 7-6 (8-6)
6: Pedro Campos (WU) def. Daniel Martinex Roca (TU) 2-6, 6-4, 6-3