Texas Tech Men’s Tennis Doubles Duo Advances to NCAA Final Four

The 18th-seeded pair of Raony Carvalho and Gonzalo Escobar upset the Number 2-ranked duo Steve Johnson and Roberto Quiroz of USC, 6-2, 3-2, to advance to the semifinals of the  NCAA Men's Doubles National Championships yesterday at the McGill Tennis Complex at the University of Georgia.

"We knew (Carvalho and Escobar) had the talent - and the way they complement each other on the court - to do this," said Red Raider head coach Tim Sigel told TexasTech.com. "They are playing their best tennis on the biggest stage, because they are so relaxed and so confident."

Texas Tech jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first set, before trading games to take a 6-2 victory in the first set.

In the second set, each side held serve through the first four games. Then Tech tandem broke USC's serve to take a 3-2 second set lead. As Escobar prepared to serve for Tech in the sixth game of the set, USC retired the match due to injury.

The Carvalho-Escobar duo will face Chris Thiemann and Marcel Thiemann of Ole Miss today at 4:30 p.m. CT. The No. 17 Thiemann brothers defeated VCU's No. 63 tandem of Antoine Baroz and Alexis Heugas, 7-6, 7-6 yesterday.

According to Texas Tech Athletics, Carvalho-Escobar duo is the farthest Texas Tech has advanced in the NCAA Individual Championships. Fittingly, Escobar and Carvalho are also the two winningest singles and doubles players in Texas Tech Tennis history.