Orlando, Fla. – The Fordham men's tennis team entered the 2021 Atlantic 10 Men's Tennis Championship as the sixth seed, the Rams' highest ever seeding at the championship, and almost did something else today that it had never done, advance to the Atlantic 10 semifinals. The Rams fought hard against third-seeded Richmond, coming up just short in a 4-2 loss at the USTA National Campus.
 
"We lost a heartbreaker to the University of Richmond today," said head coach Michael Sowter. "We won at #2 doubles and had five match points at #1 doubles but eventually lost 12-10 in the breaker to go down 1-0 after doubles. We won at #1 singles and #5 singles and Tom Russwurm had a match point at sixth singles but ended up losing 7-5 in the third. We lost 4-2 but were two points away from taking the match. Tough day but I'm really proud of the way the team battled."
 
In doubles play, the Rams lost at third doubles but Max Green and Alex Makatsaria evened play with a 6-2 win over Richmond's John Walsh and Campbell Erwin. So the double point came down to first doubles where Fabian Mauritzson and Lutwin de Macar battled Josh Keitelman and Daniel Kliebhan to a tiebreaker before falling, 12-10 in the tiebreaker.
 
The Spiders took a 2-0 lead with a win at second singles before de Macar put the Rams on the board with a 6-4, 6-3, win over Erwin at the fifth position.
 
After Richmond went up 3-1, Mauritzson got one back for Fordham with a 7-6(5), 6-3, win at first singles over Matthew Fernandez. However, the Spiders clinched the win when Keitelman defeated Russwurm at sixth singles. Russwurm dropped the first set, 6-4, but came back to win the second, 6-1. Russwurm battled in the third set before falling, 7-5.