Men's Tennis Advances on Day One of ITA Regionals
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
