NEW ORLEANS, La. – Four University of South Alabama men’s tennis players were undefeated on the day and reached their respective flight’s semifinals at day one of the UNO Big Easy Tennis Classic.
The Jaguars dropped their only doubles match of the day.
“We had a good day one at the tournament,” said USA head coach Nick Brochu. “It was very windy, but we stayed focused and pulled it out. Having multiple draws, our goal is to have many of our guys go far in their respective brackets; not only one or two players.”
In the No. 1 flight, sophomore Daniel Leitner (Niederfischbach, Germany) was victorious in his only match of the day as the No. 1 seed, defeating Devon Belcher of Loyola 6-4, 6-1. Junior Shayann Vaezzadeh (Bavent, France) won 6-2, 6-1 over Damian Despetovski of Nicholls to also reach the semifinals.
USA went 2-0 in the No. 2 flight, thanks to straight-sets wins from senior Cody Hall (Albuquerque, N.M.) and sophomore Blake Gregor (Griffith, New South Wales, Australia). Hall, the No. 1 seed, defeated Jamie Eccleton of Nicholls 6-4, 7-5. Gregor topped Viktor Svoboda of Xavier (La.) 6-4, 6-1.
“Today was great because we won five out of seven singles matches,” said Brochu. “We are capable to place one of our guys in every final here.”
Sophomore Sebastian Kirmse (Heilbronn-Neckargartach, Germany), as the No. 8 seed in Flight 3, fell 6-0, 6-2 to Manel Estruege of Nicholls. Christoffer Appelgren of New Orleans edged redshirt freshman Jan Hellmich (Muelheim, Germany) 6-2, 6-2.
In doubles action, Lovro Curcija and Appelgren outlasted Hellmich and Kirmse 8-6.
“We had a good performance for our top players,” said Brochu. “Winning in the first rounds is not always easy, but we were ready and got a strong start. We had a strong showing from Daniel and Cody, being the No. 1 seeds in the A and B draw. We have another long day tomorrow in both singles and doubles.”
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
—USA—
