FORT MYERS, Fla. – Highlighted by four straight-set singles victories and a sweep of the doubles matches, No. 68 Radford University defeated Florida Gulf Coast 6-1 in its 2009 men's tennis season opener Friday afternoon at the FGCU Tennis Complex.

Battling through windy conditions, the Highlanders grabbed an early 1-0 lead in the match after claiming all three doubles matches by identical 8-4 margins.

Three-time league Player of the Year Martin Sayer (Hong Kong/Sagemont Virtual) and freshman Stefan Bojic (Novi Sad, Serbia) defeated the Eagles' left-handed duo of Brenton Bacon and Thibaud Aime at the top spot.

In the second doubles tilt, Mehdi Benhammou (Rabat, Morocco/Descartes) and Ivan Salec (Oroslavje, Croatia/Secondary School of Oroslavje), who won 12 of their 16 doubles matches a year ago, picked up right where they left off with a win over Danny Lee and Brad Henderson. Like the Highlanders' No. 1 pairing, junior Zack Watson (Harrisonburg, Va./Eastern Mennonite) teamed with newcomer Igor Ogrizek (Daruvar, Croatia/Grammar School, Birotehnika) for the first time to setback Rafael Costa and Edson Lima.

In singles competition, Sayer moved one step closer to his 100th career victory with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Bacon, while Ogrizek (6-2, 6-2), Benhammou (6-0, 6-1) and Watson (7-5, 6-1) also recorded straight set triumphs for the Highlanders.

With the match already decided, Bojic held off Lee with a 10-8 decision in a third-set tiebreaker in his collegiate and Highlander debut. Florida Gulf Coast's (0-1) only point came from Aime at the second spot, which also required a tiebreaker to determine.

Radford (1-0) will enjoy a week break before returning to the courts against Texas A&M Corpus Christi on Jan. 23. The Highlanders will also take on Texas A&M (1/25) and the University of Texas at Arlington (1/26) during their road swing to the Lonestar State.

Radford University (1-0) vs Florida Gulf Coast (0-1)
Jan 16, 2009 at Fort Myers, Fla. (FGCU Tennis Complex)
#68 Radford University 6, Florida Gulf Coast 1

Singles competition
1. SAYER, Martin (RU) def. BACON, Brenton (FGCU) 6-1, 6-4
2. AIME, Thibaud (FGCU) def. SALEC, Ivan (RU) 7-6 (4), 5-7, 10-7
3. BOJIC, Stefan (RU) def. LEE, Danny (FGCU) 6-3, 5-7, 10-8
4. OGRIZEK, Igor (RU) def. LIMA, Edson (FGCU) 6-2, 6-2
5. BENHAMMOU, Mehdi (RU) def. COSTA, Rafael (FGCU) 6-0, 6-1
6. WATSON, Zack (RU) def. HENDERSON, Brad (FGCU) 7-5, 6-1

Doubles competition
1. SAYER, Martin/BOJIC, Stefan (RU) def. BACON, Brenton/AIME, Thibaud (FGCU) 8-4
2. SALEC, Ivan/BENHAMMOU, Mehdi (RU) def. LEE, Danny/HENDERSON, Brad (FGCU) 8-4
3. OGRIZEK, Igor/WATSON, Zack (RU) def. COSTA, Rafael/LIMA, Edson (FGCU) 8-4

** The second and third singles matches were decided by a third set 10-pt tiebreaker