SAN ANTONIO – Officials from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) announced on Wednesday the initial national rankings heading into the 2024 men’s tennis spring season. For the first time since 2022, UTSA has a player in the singles rankings, as Tomás Pinho came in at No. 115 on the preseason national rankings.
A redshirt sophomore out of Oporto, Portugal, Pinho had an exciting fall for the Roadrunners, garnering notable advances in a pair of ITA events that placed the Roadrunners back in the spotlight. Pinho opened the month of October at the ITA All-American Championships by earning his spot into the qualifying singles draw with victories over Tulane’s Alex Bancila (6-1, 7-6) and LMU’s First-Flight, Arthur Craig Pantino (6-4, 6-2), before going three sets deep in a loss to Indiana’s Sam Landau. Following up at the ITA Texas Regional, Pinho earned a singles victory over TCU’s Kaj Quirijns (7-5, 6-3), but really got moving on the doubles side alongside partner Alan Magadan. The pair defeated tandems from UIW, Texas and TAMU-Corpus Christi to reach the Regional Semifinal, only stopped by eventual Texas Region Champions Pedro Vives and Sebastian Gorzny from TCU.
Over the summer, Pinho battled his way to the semifinal of the Porto Open back home in Portugal. In addition, Pinho competed as an independent last week at the San Antonio International Tennis Team Championships.
Pinho finished the 2023 season at 11-8 in solo competition, earning six wins in the fourth flight during his first season of competition with the Roadrunners. He also went a team-leading 13-8 on the doubles courts.
Bringing back nearly a complete roster, UTSA is coming off one of the best seasons in program history and a 2023 NCAA postseason appearance. As a team, the Roadrunners will be back in competition in mid-January as the program enters its inaugural season in the American Athletic Conference. The full schedule will be announced soon.
- UTSA -