Monday, October 06, 2008

FROGS CONTINUE PLAY AT ALL-AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIPS

TULSA, OKLAHOME (October 6, 2008) Three Frogs hit the court in singles play Tuesday, as qualifying-draw competition started up at the D’Novo All-American Men’s Tennis Championships at Tulsa’s Michael D. Case Tennis Center. Senior Kriegler Brink moved on to the second round, while sophomores Emanu Brighiu and Zach Nichols each dropped out of the singles portion of the tournament.

“I was pleased with the way each of our guys competed,” head coach Dave Borelli said. “Sometimes in these tournaments it’s just a matter of the type of draws that you end up with, and both Emanu and Zach faced some tough competitiors today.”

Brink, the nation’s 93rd-ranked singles player participating in his first singles match since Sept. 26, survived a tight first set in a tiebreaker against Miami’s David Rosenfeld on his way to posting a two-set victory, 7-6(7-1), 6-1, during the opening round. A native of South Africa, Brink next faces the winner of Monday’s first-round match between 25th-seeded Nicolas Delgado (Virginia Tech) and Mateusz Kecki (USC) on Tuesday.

Nichols put up a major fight during a three-set loss to Texas Tech’s Raony Carvalho, who was seeded third in the qualifying draw. Following a tiebreaker win by Nichols in the first set, 7-6 (3-6), Carvalho rallied to sweep the remaining two sets, 6-2, 6-2.

Brighiu also was unable to earn an upset over another seeded foe, Tennessee’s Boris Conkic (No. 3 seed). After dropping a 6-3 decision in the opening set, Brighiu pushed Conkic to the limit before falling in the tiebreaker, 7-6 (7-4).

Brighiu and Nichols each advanced into the qualifying bracket as one of 16 surviving seeds during last weekend’s pre-qualifying draw.

Despite bowing out of the singles competition Monday, both Frogs will continue play Tuesday with the opening round of doubles play. Nichols will pair up with Brink as the draw’s No. 9 seed, while Brighiu will team with junior Adrian Simon, who was eliminated in singles play over the weekend.

NOTE: Complete results from the D'Novo All-American Championships can be found on-line at the following link: http://www.itatennis.com/Events/MensAllAmerican.htm

Monday Results
Men’s Qualifying Singles – First Round
Kriegler Brink (TCU) def. David Rosenfeld (Miami) 7-6(7-1), 6-1
(3) Raony Carvalho (Texas Tech) def. Zach Nichols (TCU) 6-7(3-6), 6-2, 6-3
(8) Boris Conkic (Tennessee) def. Emanu Brighiu (TCU) 6-3, 7-6(7-4)

Tuesday Schedule
Men’s Qualifying Singles – Second Round
Kriegler Brink (TCU) vs. Nicholas Delgado (Virginia Tech) or Mateusz Kecki (USC)

Men’s Qualifying Doubles – First Round
(9) Kriegler Brink/Zach Nichols (TCU) vs. Jaime Pulgar/Derek Stephens (NC State)
Emanu Brighiu/Adrian Simon (TCU) vs. (5) Dominic Inglot/Michael Shabaz
(Virginia)

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