CLEVELAND – For the second consecutive year, the Belmont University men's tennis team has a player in the Horizon League Individual Championships singles final as freshman Jesús Garcia Salgado advanced to Sunday morning's title match with two victories Saturday. The Monterrey, Mexico, native won in three sets in the singles quarterfinals Saturday morning before pushing through the semifinals in straight sets Saturday afternoon.
Salgado edged Indiana University Indianapolis' Owen Nguyen 7-6 (7-2), 2-6, 7-5 in the quarterfinals and defeated Cleveland State's Emil Dapcevic 7-6 (7-3), 6-1 in the semifinals at the Medical Mutual Tennis Pavilion in Cleveland. At 10 a.m. CT/11 a.m. ET Sunday, Salgado will take on Northern Illinois' Constantin Radu in the 2026 Horizon League Individual Championships singles final.
"Jesús (Garcia Salgado) showed a lot of toughness and played well through two good matches that had their own set of challenges," spoke head coach
Jeff Cero. "We're excited to watch him give it all in the final tomorrow."
The Bruins advanced three to the quarterfinals of the singles main draw following Friday's play, however, juniors
Charlie Robin and
Morgan Woodson were upended Saturday morning. Robin fell to the Vikings' Dapcevic 7-6 (8-6), 6-4, while Woodson lost to the Huskies' Radu 6-2, 6-0.
In a consolation doubles match Saturday afternoon, Woodson teamed up with junior
Kostiantyn Mantach to down Oral Roberts' Andres Rendon and Martin Rivadeneira 6-1.
Mantach also played an extra backdraw singles match Saturday against Northern Illinois' Lorenzo Messina, but came up just short in a deciding 10-point super tiebreaker (4-6, 6-4, 10-8).
The winner of Sunday morning's singles championship match advances to the 2026 Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Conference Masters, held in Rome, Georgia, in early November. The four singles semifinalists from the ITA Conference Masters qualify for the NCAA Singles Championship.
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