UE nears UAAP men’s lawn tennis crown

University of the East fashioned out a 3-1 win over University of Santo Tomas Saturday in the men’s Finals opener to move closer to making history in the UAAP Season 79 lawn tennis tournament at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center.

Rookie AJ Lim bested Dave Mosqueda of the Growling Tigers, 6-2, 6-2, in the second singles to give the Red Warriors 2-1 lead.

Paolo Baran and Jeric Delos Santos then sealed the first tie for UE, as the duo overcame a second set blanking to topple Joel Cabusas and Bernlou Bering, 7-5, 0-6, 6-3, in the second doubles.

The Warriors go for the jugular in the second tie of the best-of-three series on Wednesday at the same Malate venue.

Meanwhile, reigning women’s champion National University tries to complete a second straight perfect season against UST at 8 a.m. Sunday.

On a 23-tie winning streak, the twice-to-beat Lady Bulldogs are tipped to prevail over the second-ranked Tigresses, who are eyeing to send the championship to a decider on Saturday.

UST snatched the opening singles after Nico Lanzado escaped with a 7-6 (1), 6-3 victory over UE’s Josshua Kinaadman.

Rogelio Estaño and RJ Saga leveled the tie for the Warriors with a 6-3, 6-4 first doubles triumph over Clarence Cabahug and En-En Lopez of the Tigers.