Thursday, September 25
Tulsa, Okla.
All Day
Bucknell University
at
ITA All-American Championships
ITA All-American Championships Update: Tahirovic Ousted by Baylor's Chirita in 3-Setter
9/25/2025 4:48:00 PM | Men's Tennis
TULSA, Okla. -- Bucknell senior Amar Tahirovic won the first set from Baylor's Alexandru Chirita, but the Romanian graduate student came back to win the next two and claim the ITA All-American Championships main draw consolation match on Thursday at Tulsa's Michael D. Case Tennis Center. Each of the first two sets were decided in tiebreakers, and then Chirita won the third set 6-3 after sprinting to a 4-0 lead.Â
Tahirovic, the reigning Patriot League Player of the Year, dropped a 6-3, 6-4 decision to TCU's Duncan Chan on Wednesday. He looked good early in the consy round, earning a quick service break. Chirita broke back to make it 3-3, and then he fought off three break points to go up 4-3 and another break point to get to 5-4. Tahirovic held serve to force the tiebreaker, and right off the bat he put away a forehand volley for a quick mini-break. A few points later a service ace made it 5-2, Chirita missed an easy overhead to bring up set point, and Tahirovic closed it out at 7-3.Â
Chirita won the first two games of the second set before Tahirovic won the next three. A service break made it 3-4, but Tahirovic won a key deuce point to break right back and get to 4-4. Tahirovic held serve at love to go up 5-4, and another big deuce point put him up 6-5. Chirita won four straight points on his serve to force another tiebreaker, and then at 2-all he won three points in a row to take control and went on to prevail 7-3.Â
Chirita was on the front foot early in the second set, breaking serve twice on the way to a commanding 4-0 lead. Tahirovic did earn a break of his own to get back within 4-2, but both players held serve the rest of the way. Chirita moves on to play UCLA's Spencer Johnson in the next round of the consolation bracket.Â
Tahirovic and Adam Stavrakas both played two matches at this ITA event, which along with the NCAA Championship is one of the most prestigious college tournaments in the country. The bulk of the Bison squad will make their fall debut on Oct. 3-5 at the River City Open in Richmond, Va.
Tahirovic, the reigning Patriot League Player of the Year, dropped a 6-3, 6-4 decision to TCU's Duncan Chan on Wednesday. He looked good early in the consy round, earning a quick service break. Chirita broke back to make it 3-3, and then he fought off three break points to go up 4-3 and another break point to get to 5-4. Tahirovic held serve to force the tiebreaker, and right off the bat he put away a forehand volley for a quick mini-break. A few points later a service ace made it 5-2, Chirita missed an easy overhead to bring up set point, and Tahirovic closed it out at 7-3.Â
Chirita won the first two games of the second set before Tahirovic won the next three. A service break made it 3-4, but Tahirovic won a key deuce point to break right back and get to 4-4. Tahirovic held serve at love to go up 5-4, and another big deuce point put him up 6-5. Chirita won four straight points on his serve to force another tiebreaker, and then at 2-all he won three points in a row to take control and went on to prevail 7-3.Â
Chirita was on the front foot early in the second set, breaking serve twice on the way to a commanding 4-0 lead. Tahirovic did earn a break of his own to get back within 4-2, but both players held serve the rest of the way. Chirita moves on to play UCLA's Spencer Johnson in the next round of the consolation bracket.Â
Tahirovic and Adam Stavrakas both played two matches at this ITA event, which along with the NCAA Championship is one of the most prestigious college tournaments in the country. The bulk of the Bison squad will make their fall debut on Oct. 3-5 at the River City Open in Richmond, Va.
Players Mentioned
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