Underclassmen Lead Miami Tennis at All-American Championship
Sept. 29, 2007
Tulsa, Okla. – Freshman Carl Sundberg (Oslo, Norway) and sophomore J.C. Whitner (Bradenton, Fla./Pendleton) were victorious on Saturday, leading the University of Miami’s men’s tennis team on day one of pre-qualifying at the 2007 Polo Ralph Lauren All-American Tennis Championship at the University of Tulsa’s Michael D. Case Tennis Center.
After a first-round bye, Sundberg knocked off Marquette’s Dusan Medan in straight sets. With the 6-3, 6-3 win, the freshman advances to Sunday’s third round to take on Denver’s Benny Althaus, who advanced courtesy of a 6-2, 6-1 win over UT-Arlington’s Hugo Taracido in Saturday’s second round.
Sophomore J.C. Whitner (Bradenton, Fla./Pendleton) picked up a pair of wins on Saturday to earn his way into Sunday’s third round. He opened competition for the Hurricanes by defeating Pacific’s Artem Gramma, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (1) in a tightly contested first-round match, and then returned to knock off Ohio State’s Dom Ozanne, 7-5, 3-6, 6-2, in the second round. Whitner will square off in third-round competition versus Arizona’s Derek Stephens on Sunday at 11:30 a.m.
“I’m really proud of J.C.,” said second-year assistant Miami coach C.J. Weber. “He has really stepped up and overcome some obstacles early this year. Today’s effort shows just how hard he has worked over the summer and how much he has improved.
“The whole team represented the University well today.”
Junior David Rosenfeld (Coral Gables, Fla./Gulliver Prep/Virginia Tech) and senior Vivek Subramanian (East Brunswick, N.J.) both had first-round byes, but dropped their second round matches. Rosenfeld fell to Pacific’s Moritz Starke, 6-3, 6-3, while Subramanian won his first set, but went on to drop the match to Baylor’s Attila Bucko, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.
The pre-qualifying rounds of the All-American Championship are a two-day event including 128 of the nation’s top collegiate tennis players. This event feeds into the 128-player, 64-doubles team qualifying rounds from Oct. 1-3, which then leads into the 64-player, 32-doubles team main draw from Oct. 4-7. The entire tournament will be hosted by Tulsa, who will also serve as the host school of the 2008 NCAA Championships.
