Vallverdu Advances at ITA National Indoor Championships

Nov. 6, 2008

Charlottesville, Va. – No. 3 Daniel Vallverdu of the University of Miami men’s tennis team won in straight sets on Thursday afternoon to advance to the Round of 16 at the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships at the Boar’s Head Sports Club.

Vallverdu cruised past Denver’s Martin Zimmermann, 6-1, 6-4, in the opening Round of 32 to win his fourth-straight match and improve to 4-1 in the fall. The senior will face Oklahoma’s Andrei Daescu on Friday at 1 p.m., with the winner competing in the quarterfinals at 5:30 p.m.

Daescu defeated Columbia’s Bogdan Borta, 6-2, 6-4, to reach the Round of 16 to face Vallverdu.

“Dani got off to an early and was able to establish his game,” said head coach Mario Rincon. “His second serve was better today and he used his backhand slice more often.”

The ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships features some of the best collegiate tennis players, including eight of the top-nine ranked men’s players in the country. The 32-player singles field and 16-team doubles field include qualifiers from ITA Regional Championships, ITA National Small College champions, winners of ITA Men’s All-American Tennis Championships and at-large selections by the ITA National Tournament Committee.

Last year, Vallverdu won his first two matches at ITA National Indoors before falling in the quarterfinals.

ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships

Singles Round of 32

Daniel Vallverdu (Miami) def. Martin Zimmermann (Denver), 6-1, 6-4