The Longhorns were guaranteed to win the singles title at the Cajun Tennis Classic this week in Lafayette heading into the final match. The only question was who would claim the championship. And in an all-Texas final, senior John Mee defeated junior Leonardo Telles in two sets 6-3, 6-3. 

The Cajun Classic featured several ranked schools, plenty of good competition, and the excellent performance by Mee and Telles continued the strong start to the season. The Longhorns claimed a doubles title at last week’s Racquet Club Collegiate Invitational.  

Joining Mee in the winner’s circle was the doubles team of Telles and junior Rodrigo Banzer — who beat the doubles team from Texas Tech 6-3 — and junior Colin Markes, who defeated LSU’s Nikola Samardzic in the second singles flight 5-7, 6-4, 6-3.

“This was a pretty good day for us,” head coach Michael Center said. “Everyone is playing hard and playing well. I’m proud of the effort I’ve seen here, and I’m excited to watch these guys play.”

Markes followed up his win in last week’s doubles final with another strong performance, while Telles and Banzer were able to pick up the victory in their first tournament of the year.

Telles, a native of Sao Paulo, Brazil, and Banzer, a native of La Paz, Bolivia, form an international team that has a history of winning early in the season. They won the doubles title in the season opening Racquet Club Invitational in Midland last year as sophomores.

For Mee, who won a match at last year’s Cajun Classic as a junior, the singles victory marked a strong start to his final season with the burnt orange.

“I’m excited to see John do so well this weekend,” Center said. “He has struggled with injuries here and there the last couple years, and it was really terrific to see him come through a draw like this one and win the tournament. Leo, Colin (Markes) and Rodrigo were outstanding all weekend as well.” 

As the Longhorns took care of business in Louisiana, junior Harrison Scott advanced to the quarterfinals of the Oracle ITA Masters in Malibu, California, before losing to junior Johannes Schretter from Baylor.

Scott had beaten freshman Jack Molloy from California and sophomore Tim Handel from Northern Arizona before losing to Schretter, an Austria native. Scott will return to Austin this week as the group from Lafayette also returns home.

The Longhorns return to the court on Sept. 30 when the team travels to Tulsa, Oklahoma, for the ITA All-American Championships.