THOMASVILLE, Ga. – University of South Alabama’s Dauw Kruger (Pretoria, South Africa) and Daniel Leitner (Niederfischbach, Germany) both earned wins at the first day of the Thomasville Men's Tennis Invitational.

Kruger, a senior, fell in his opener 6-3, 3-6, (10-8) to Temura Asafu-Adjaye of Florida A&M but rebounded in the consolation draw and lost just three games in defeating Tammo Haake of Valdosta State 6-2, 6-1.

Leitner, a freshman, also dropped his first-round match, falling to Jason Zafiros of Florida State 6-4, 6-2 before whitewashing Fabrice Myrtil of FAMU 6-0, 6-0.

Freshman Sebastian Kirmse (Lauffen, Germany) went 0-2 on the afternoon, losing to Dominic Cotrone of Florida State 6-3, 6-1 and to Michael Lue of West Florida 6-1, 6-0.

Fellow freshman Blake Gregor (Griffith, New South Wales, Australia) lost twice in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4 to Andrey Pozhidaev of West Florida and 6-3, 6-0 to Andres Bucaro of Florida State.

"Today was a start,” USA head coach Nick Brochu said. “We saw some good things and some things we definitely need to work on. We need to build up the point more and be patient.  Saturday will be good to see if we learn from the first two matches.  I also look forward to see how we do in doubles."

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com.  Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

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