Manila: Second seed National University defeated No. 3 University of the Philippines, 3-1, on Sunday to secure a spot in the finals of the UAAP Season 87 men's tennis at the Felicisimo Ampon Tennis Center in Malate, Manila.

According to Philippines News Agency, NU will face the University of Santo Tomas, who are seeking their third consecutive title, in a best-of-three series beginning at 2 p.m. on Wednesday. The women's finals, featuring the same schools with NU as the defending champion, will begin at 7 a.m.

UST earned the first men's finals spot after overcoming the University of the East, 4-1, on Saturday. "We're really happy that we made it to the finals. In the Final Four, we had the twice-to-beat advantage, but we lost yesterday. So we told the players, 'just play your game,' because there's no more tomorrow. It's do-or-die. We really had to push through," NU coach Ronard Joven stated in a news release.

UP had forced a deciding match after an unexpected 3-2 victory over NU in the semifinals' opener. During the preliminaries, NU narrowly defeated UST, 3-2, in the first round, while UST emerged victorious, 4-1, in the second round.

In the match, NU's Andrei Padao defeated Aslan Carbonilla 6-0, 6-0, in the opening singles, but UP's Loucas Fernandez equalized with a 6-3, 6-0 win over Jules Lazaro. Angil Balaoing and Christian Padilla overcame Raymond Goco and Lance Fernandez, 6(5)-7, 6-4, 10-5, to give the Bulldogs a 2-1 lead. Team captain EJ Tugade secured the victory for NU with a 7-6(9), 4-6, 6-3 win over Miguel Iglupas in the third singles.

"UP is no joke. They're also complete. So right now, we just got lucky in this match that we won," Joven remarked.