Quartet Advances at ITA Southeast Regionals
ATHENS, Ga. – On the first day of Main Draw action at the ITA Southeast Regional Championships Presented by Oracle, the University of Miami men’s tennis team saw a pair of sophomores advance through to the Round of 32 in singles action and a pair of doubles tandems advance to the Round of 16.
Competing on the Dan Magill Tennis Complex courts at the University of Georgia, No. 92 Bojan Jankulovski faced off against Florida State’s Sebastian Arcila in the opening round of the singles Main Draw. The sophomore cruised past the Seminole, 6-2, 6-1, moving on to face USF’s Ivan Yatsuk in the Round of 32. The duo will hit the court Sunday at 10 a.m., with the winner returning to the courts at 2 p.m.
The highest ranked Hurricane, No. 41 Adria Soriano Barrera, squared off against Georgia State’s Kevin Huynh Saturday morning. The sophomore nearly earned a sweep, advancing to the Round of 32 with a 6-0, 6-1 victory. The Barcelona, Spain, native will battle Florida Atlantic’s Jason Legall at 9:30 a.m.
Also competing in the singles Main Draw on Saturday, Francisco Bastias took the first set over FSU’s Richard Thongoana, 6-4, however the freshman was unable to secure the victory, ultimately falling 6-4, 4-6, 4-6. Meanwhile, freshman Kaya Gore fell against Stefano Di Aloy of Georgia Southern, 1-6, 3-6, while redshirt junior Dane Dunlap came up short against FGCU’s Felipe Ramirez, 3-6, 6-3, 3-6.
Looking to earn a berth in the Main Draw, sophomore Tatsuki Shimamoto and junior Stephen Madonia competed in the Round of 16 of the Qualifying Draw.
Against Georgia Tech’s Cole Gromley, Madonia was unable to overcome a first set tiebreaker setback, ultimately dropping the match, 6-7, 3-6. On the other side of the bracket, Shimamoto battled UCF’s Vasyl Kiselyov for three sets, but came up short, 6-2, 4-6, 3-6.
In the Qualifying Consolation Draw, freshman Franco Aubone topped Kennesaw State’s Bryan Triana, 2-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-5), while sophomore William Grattan-Smith bested FAU’s Luis Fernandez Labarta, 6-1, 6-3. Simultaneously, sophomore Pablo Aycart Joya lost in a 10-point tiebreaker, 6-4, 4-6, 0-1 (8-10), against Bryn Nahrung of FSU.
After receiving a first-round bye in doubles play, Soriano and Gore teamed up to battle South Florida’s duo Sean Burnette and Tobias Sonne in the Round of 32. The Canes’ tandem secured an 8-4 victory and are set to face Arcila and Alex Knaff of FSU Sunday afternoon.
Also receiving automatic advancement to the Round of 32, Bastias and Jankulovski teamed up to defeat Georgia State’s Giles Hussey and Jack Macfarlane, 8-7 (10-5). Miami’s double pair will return to the court Sunday afternoon against Florida State’s Rana-Roop Singh Bhular and Chase Wood.
In the Round of 64, Grattan-Smith and Madonia came up short against Georgia State Quentin Couland and Huynh, 6-8, while Aycart Joya and Shimamoto fell to Kiselyov and Mikhail Sokolovskiy of UCF, 7-8 (5-10).
In the Round of 32, Dunlap and Aubone fell in a tiebreaker, 7-8 (7-10), against FAU’s Ignacio Garcia and Legall.
Overall, play will resume each morning, with the finals of each draw–main singles, main doubles, consolation singles and consolation doubles–the only contests scheduled for Tuesday.
The singles and doubles victors earn an automatic berth into the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships, held Nov. 7-11 in Surprise, Ariz.
To keep up with the University of Miami tennis team on social media, follow @CanesMensTennis on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
