ABILENE, Texas – A successful day one at the Western Athletic Conference Fall Invitational wrapped up for the UT Arlington men's and women's tennis programs at the John T.L. Jones Tennis Complex on the campus of Abilene Christian.
 
"We had a great day out today," said head coach Diego Benitez. "Winning three out of our four matches on the day."
 
Pedro Sasso and Andres Medus both advanced to the semifinals on Saturday, Oct. 26, after taking care of business in the quarterfinals earlier this morning.
 
Medus, the No. 6 seed entering the tournament, defeated the No. 3 seed Filip Stipic of Seattle U by a score of 4-6, 6-3, 7-5. Medus moves on to the semifinals to take on Abilene Christian's Daniel Morozov, the No. 2 seed, at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
 
The No. 4 overall seed, Sasso defeated Grand Canyon's Andres Loizas, the No. 5 seed, in a tightly contested match 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4). Sasso is set to take on the No. 1 seeded Nikita Volonski of GCU at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
 
"Andy and Pedro had to go all the way," said Benitez. "I was proud of the way they finished the matches."
 
On the women's side, Ana Paula Jimenez who is the No. 2 overall seed defeated the 10th seeded Mariana Zurita Berdecio of Utah Tech 6-3, 6-2. Jimenez advances to the semifinals where she is set to battle the No. 3 seed Emma Persson of Tarleton State.
 
"Ana played really well, she was super organized and consistent," said Benitez. "She looked in control the whole match."
 
Newcomer Adela Latalova fell in the first round to Tarleton State's Noelia Lorca 6-2, 6-3 in her first WAC action.
 
Saturday, Oct. 26, is the first action we get to see of both men's and women's doubles teams during the tournament. For the men, Yazid Lahjomri teams up with Sasso to battle ACU's Daniel Morozov and Ethan Scribner at 9 a.m. On the women's side, Valeriia Ivanovskaia partners with Jimenez as the No. 2 seed and set to take on Seattle U's Lamija Avdic and Liliya Dimova at 9 a.m.
 
The winners of the invitational will advance to the ITA Conference Masters on Nov. 7 through Nov. 10 in Rome, Georgia, to try and advance to the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships in Waco later in November.
 
You can follow along with live stats throughout the weekend:
Saturday, Oct. 26 – Live Stats - Men | Live Stats - Women
Sunday, Oct. 27 – Live Stats - Men | Live Stats - Women
 
Below is the outlined schedule for both men's and women's for the remainder of the tournament:

Saturday, Oct. 26

Men's Doubles Semifinals
Match 1: No. 1 ACU (Daniel Morozov/Ethan Scribner) vs. No. 4 UTA (Yazid Lahjomri/Pedro Sasso) - 9 a.m. CT
Match 2: No. 2 GCU (Brice Patoux/David Wekesa) vs. No. 3 SU (Jun Sasagawa/Filip Stipic) - 9 a.m. CT

Men's Singles Semifinals
Match 5: No. 1 Nikita Volonski (GCU)  vs. No. 4 Pedro Sasso (UTA) - 1 p.m. CT
Match 6: No. 2 Daniel Morozov (ACU) vs. No. 6 Andres Medus (UTA) - 1 p.m. CT

Women's Doubles Semifinals
Match 3: No. 1 TSU (Ximena Morales/Emma Persson) vs. No. 5 GCU (Gala Arangio/Dania Deaifi) - 9 a.m. CT
Match 4: No. 2 UTA (Valeriia Ivanovskaia/Ana Paula Jimenez) vs. No. 3 SU (Lamija Avdic/Liliya Dimova) - 9 a.m. CT

Women's Singles Semifinals
Match 9: No. 1 Lamija Avdic (SU) vs. Winner Match 6 - 1 p.m. CT
Match 10: No. 3 Emma Persson vs. No. 2 Ana Paula Jimenez (UTA) - 1 p.m. CT

Sunday, Oct. 27

Men's Doubles Championship
Match 3: Winner Match 1 vs. Winner Match 2 - 9 a.m. CT

Men's Singles Championship
Match 7: Winner Match 5 vs. Winner Match 6 - Noon CT

Women's Doubles Championship
Match 5: Winner Match 3 vs. Winner Match 4 - 9 a.m. CT

Women's Singles Championship
Match 11: Winner Match 9 vs. Winner Match 10 - Noon CT
   
FOLLOW ALONG
For updates, behind-the-scenes photos, videos and more engaging and personal content, be sure to follow the men's and women's tennis programs on X (formally known as Twitter) (@utamavsmtennis) (@utamavswtennis), Instagram (@utamavsmtennis) (@utamavswtennis) and Facebook (/utamavsmtennis) (/utamavswtennis).