DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The 22nd-ranked Embry-Riddle men's tennis team opened the 2024 season with a 7-0 victory over Florida National (0-1), Wednesday at the Crotty Tennis Complex.
 
The Eagles picked up their first doubles win at the No. 3 spot where Fernando Alonso and Alvaro Diaz Rodrigo dispatched Guido Gentile and Alejandro Suarez 6-0. Newcomers Calaen Potts and Josh Nuyts followed with a 6-3 defeat of Ignacio Acosta and David Santamaria at No. 1 and Safar Rasulov and Michele Iftimie completed the doubles sweep by holding off Lennart Ostheimer and Luigi Stefanacci 6-4 on court two.
 
The Blue and Gold surrendered just two games in the first two singles matches to reach completion. Rasulov was first off the court following his 6-1, 6-0 win over Acosta at the top spot followed by Nuyts who topped Gentile by the same score at the third spot.
 
The clinching point came on court five where No. 31 Alonso bested Stefanacci 6-1, 6-2.
 
Following Diaz Rodrigo's 6-1, 6-1 victory over Santamaria at the sixth spot, Potts and Iftimie both needed second-set tiebreakers to decide their matches. Playing on court two, Iftimie finished first with a 7-5, 7-6 (8-6) win over Ostheimer and after trailing in set one, while 27th-ranked Potts closed out the match by holding off Suarez 6-4, 7-6 (4).
 
The Eagles open Sunshine State Conference play at 1 p.m. on Saturday when they travel south to face Palm Beach Atlantic.