By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information Coordinator
PALM DESERT, Calif. – It went down to the wire yet again, but for the second-straight day, Eduardo Mena found himself on the wrong side of a tightly-contested tilt in the 2017 Oracle ITA National Fall Championships.
The two-time OVC Player of the Year was upended by the 11th-ranked player in the tournament's field, as Arizona State's Michael Geerts captured a 7-5, 5-7, 7-6 (7-4) win in the round of 32 consolation bracket from the JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa.
For the second-consecutive day, Mena displayed resiliency in fighting back from a loss in the first set. On Wednesday in the event's first round, Mena rallied from a 6-3 loss in the opening set to Florida State's Guy Iradukunda, only to take the second set, 6-2, before falling in a thrilling finale, 7-6 (7-5).
Thursday featured a similar fate for Mena, who bounced back from a 7-5 loss in the first set to Geerts, before seizing the second set, 7-5.
Mena wraps up his stay in Southern California as the only Golden Eagle to ever participate in the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships.
WEDNESDAY 11/1 RECAP
INDIAN WELLS, Calif. – A riveting comeback turned into an epic finish, but ultimately Eduardo Mena was on the short end of a thriller in Wednesday's first round of the 2017 Oracle ITA National Fall Championships. Florida State's Guy Iradukunda seized the seesaw affair, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (7-5), from the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
After falling 6-3 in the opening set, Mena bounced to the tune of a 6-2, second-set victory to force a third and final set. Squared away at 1-1 in the finale, the two-time OVC Player of the Year rallied with his back against the wall, erasing a 6-5 deficit to extend the tilt into tiebreakers.
With the set locked up at 6-6, Iradukunda narrowly edged Mena, 7-5, in the tiebreaker.
Mena, the first ever Golden Eagle to participate in the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships, will continue into Thursday round of 32 consolation bracket. The Bultrago del Lozoya, Spain native will face Arizona State's Michael Geerts at 4 p.m. CT from the JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa in Palm Desert, Calif.
Photo by Tony Marable
