ST. AUGUSTINE – The No. 4-ranked (Intercollegiate Tennis Association Division II Top 50) Flagler College men's tennis team has one more dress rehearsal before the 2024 season opens on Feb. 10 against Florida Southern College at the Pollard Tennis Center.

Head coach Jonas Piibor enters his third season at the helm of the Flagler program and he has guided the team to the NCAA Division II National Tournament each year. The Saints have the same aspirations this season.

Piibor returns four players from last year's team that reached the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Tournament.

"I think we have a good mix of veteran players with some young guys," said Piibor. "I like how we've been training so far. Time will tell with how we do in the matches."

Jacopo Denitto is back after earning second-team All-Peach Belt Conference honors in singles. He earned preseason all-conference accolades last month. Denitto posted an 11-9 overall record in singles play in the fall. He is currently ranked No. 7 in singles in the ITA national ranking. This fall, Denitto won the ITA Southeast Regional in singles and advanced to the ITA Cup.

Philipp Lemken returns after a 27-8 overall singles record last year, which included a 14-3 mark at No. 4. He also turned in a 23-9 record in doubles. In the fall season, Lemken finished with a 10-4 record in singles.

Diego Amilibia and Max Berner also return for the Saints. Amilibia went 8-5 in the fall and Berner was 6-3 in singles.

No one could have made a bigger splash in the fall than Baptiste Mercier. He went 15-7 in singles and 10-3 in doubles. The Cameron University transfer advanced to the finals of the ITA Southeast Regional where he lost to teammate Jacopo Denitto. He advanced to the ITA Cup where he won the singles title and then went on the play in the ITA Cup Super Bowl. Mercier opens the season as the nation's top-ranked singles player.

Another newcomer, Ilian Borlee, had a great fall posting an 11-3 record in singles. Simon Malis, a freshman from the Czech Republic, went 10-3 in doubles in the fall with Mercier.

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