Oct. 23, 2009
Athens, Ga… Christian Blöcker and No. 79 Carl Sundberg led the University of Miami men’s tennis team on day one of the Wilson/ITA Southeast Regional Championship at the University of Georgia’s Dan Magill Tennis Complex.
Both Hurricanes were victorious in both singles and doubles competition. Blöcker claimed his second-straight singles win with a strong 6-0, 4-6, 6-4 decision over Georgia’s Will Reynolds to advance to Saturday’s Round of 32 to face Florida State’s fifth-seeded and 33rd-ranked Clint Bowles at 11 a.m.
Sundberg – seeded eighth in the tournament – rallied to beat Stetson’s Maksim Levanovich, 5-7, 6-4, 7-5, for the opportunity to take on FAU’s Daniel Vardag on Saturday at noon. Miami newcomer Waylon Chin also picked up a strong win in the Round of 64, using straight sets to knock off Georgia Southern’s Matthijs Verdam, 7-6, 6-4, to improve to 3-1 in the fall. Chin will battle FAU’s Georg Matschke on Saturday at 11 a.m.
In doubles competition, Blöcker and David Simon improved to 2-0 in the morning, knocking off USF’s Yannick Yoshizawa and Thomas Estrada, 8-6, in the Round of 32. In the afternoon’s Round of 16, the Hurricanes went up against host Georgia’s Nate Schnugg and Jamie Hunt – the second-ranked doubles team in the nation. The Bulldog duo was too strong, overtaking the Hurricanes, 8-5.
With a 9-8 (5) victory overGeorgia Tech’s Ryan Smith and Juan Spir in the morning session, Miami’s Hector Nieto improved to 3-0 in doubles competition, joining All-American Sundberg for the pair’s first joint win of 2009. The duo advanced to this afternoon’s Round of 16 to face its second-straight ACC opponent, but stumbled versus Florida State’s Aaron May and Anderson Reed, 8-4.
The Wilson/ITA Southeast Regional Championship consists of a main singles draw with 64 players and a 32-team doubles division. The singles and doubles winnners automatically qualify for the ITA National Indoor Championships at Yale University from Nov. 5-8.
Wilson/ITA Southeast Regional Championship, Day One
Singles
Round of 64
Christian Blöcker (Miami) def. Will Reynolds (Georgia), 6-0, 4-6, 6-4
Waylon Chin (Miami) def. Matthijs Verdam (Georgia Southern), 7-6, 6-4
No. 79 Carl Sundberg (Miami) def. Maksim Levanovich (Stetson), 5-7, 6-4, 7-5
Christian Vitulli (Georgia) def. David Simon (Miami), 6-4, 6-4
Dan Cash (Florida) def. Barnabas Carrega (Miami), 6-2, 6-2
Drake Bernstein (Georgia) def. Hector Nieto (Miami), 6-1, 6-0
Doubles
Round of 32
Christian Blöcker/David Simon (Miami) def. Yannick Yoshizawa/Thomas Estrada (USF), 8-6
Carl Sundberg/Hector Nieto (Miami) def. Ryan Smith/Juan Spir (Georgia Tech), 9-8
Connor Smith/Vahid Mirzadeh (Florida State) def. Waylon Chin/Barnabas Carrega (Miami), 8-6
Round of 16
No. 2 Nate Schnugg/Jamie Hunt (Georgia) def. Christian Blöcker/David Simon (Miami), 8-5
Aaron May/Anderson Reed (Florida State) def. Carl Sundberg/Hector Nieto (Miami), 8-4