Men's Tennis Has Strong Opening Day
Sept. 24, 2010
ATHENS, GA. – The University of Miami men’s tennis team finished with five singles wins and a pair of doubles victories on the opening day of the Southern Intercollegiate Championships at the University of Georgia on Friday.
Seniors Christian Blöcker, Waylon Chin and Eduardo Pavia were victorious in both singles and doubles competition, advancing in the first tournament of the season for the Hurricanes.
Blöcker, ranked No. 72 in the nation in singles and seeded sixth in the tournament, defeated Juan Ramirez of East Tennessee State, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1, in the morning session, to advance to Saturday’s Round of 32 to face Josh GIrling of Tennessee Tech at 9:30 a.m. In the evening, Blöcker paired up with fellow senior Keith Crowley to knock of Tennessee’s tandem of Max Stevens and Ed Jones, 8-5, and advance to the Round of 32. The third-seeded duo will take on Blaze Schwartz and Jon Delinks of UCF on Saturday.
Chin used straight sets to cruise past South Carolina’s Alexander Kostanov, 7-5, 6-1, to extend his win streak from last season to seven-straight matches. He will go for win number eight in Saturday’s Round of 32 versus 70th-ranked Kevin King of Georgia Tech at 10:30 a.m. In doubles action, Chin teamed up with Pavia, the 2010 Mid-American Conference Player of the Year, and the duo defeated Campbell’s Davy Sum and Dominik Kaniewski, 8-3. They will face Stetson’s Cesare Gallo and Didrik Berg on Saturday.
Pavia was also successful in his Miami debut in singles, taking down Elon’s Philip Nemec, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5. He takes on the nation’s fourth-ranked player in Georgia Tech’s Guillermo Gomez on Saturday at 9:30 a.m.
Freshman Gabriel Flores was also strong in his first collegiate tournament. After a first-round bye, he used a 6-3, 6-3 win over Elon’s Cody Srauffer-MacDowell to advance in Division II play in Athens. He will square off versus UNC Wilmington’s Chris Cooprider on Saturday at 1 p.m.
After a first-round bye, junior Santiago Nieto also posted a victory in Division II play, downing John Taylor of Memphis, 6-2, 6-2. He will take on host Georgia’s Garrett Brasseaux on Saturday at 2 p.m.
The players are divided into three singles divisions and two doubles divisions, with Miami players competing in the top-two divisions of singles and the top division of doubles. The next two rounds of play in each division will take place on Saturday, beginning at 8 a.m.
Singles – Division I, Round of 64
#72 Christian Blocker (Miami) def. Juan Ramirez (East Tennessee State) 4-6, 7-5, 6-1
Eduardo Pavia (Miami) def. Philip Nemec (Elon) 4-6, 6-3, 7-5
Waylon Chin (Miami) def. Alexander Kostanov (South Carolina) 7-5, 6-1
#20 Ryan Lipman (Vanderbilt) def. Keith Crowley (Miami) 6-3, 6-3
Sergey Belov (Winthrop) def. Carl Sundberg (Miami) 7-6 (4), 4-6, 7-6 (4)
Singles – Division 2, Round of 128
Shaun Waters (Middle Tennessee) def. Omar Aly (Miami) 6-3, 3-6, 6-2
Singles – Division 2, Round of 64
Gabriel Flores (Miami) def. Cory S-MacDowell (Elon) 6-3, 6-3
Santiago Nieto (Miami) def. John Taylor (Memphis) 6-2, 6-2
Doubles – Division I, Round of 64
Christian Blocker/Keith Crowley (Miami) def. Ed Jones/Max Stevens (Tennessee) 8-5
Eduardo Pavia/Waylon Chin (Miami) def. Dominik Kaniewski/Davy Sum (Campbell) 8-3
Robin Akser/Juan Ramirez (East Tennessee State) def. Gabriel Flores/Omar Aly (Miami) 8-5
Harry Menzies/Ivan Machado (South Carolina) def. Carl Sundberg/Santiago Nieto (Miami) 8-4
