AUBURN, Ala. – University of South Alabama men's tennis players Loïc Cloes and Clément Marzol advanced to the quarterfinal round of the ITA Southern Regionals Doubles Main Draw with a pair of wins on Saturday. The Jag duo of Martin Bugaj and Louis Delcour split their two doubles matches and will have a consolation match on Sunday.
Delcour also continued his stellar singles play as he won his fourth singles match in three days and advanced to the quarterfinal round of the Main Draw.
Tournament Name: ITA Southern Regionals
Host: Auburn
Date: 10/19
Place: Yarbrough Tennis Center (Auburn, Ala.)
MAIN DRAW DOUBLES – ROUND OF 32
- No. 37 Loïc Cloes / Clément Marzol (South Alabama) def. Rossouw Norval / Mohammed Ali Bellalouna (Samford), 8-2
- Martin Bugaj / Louis Delcour (South Alabama) def. Max Rebol / Timothy Dixon (Samford), 8-1
MAIN DRAW DOUBLES – ROUND OF 16
- No. 37 Cloes / Marzol (South Alabama) def. Jeremy Gshwendter / Marcelo Sepelveda Garcia (Alabama), 8-4
- Tim Dollman / Michael Durham (Auburn) def. Bugaj / Delcour (South Alabama), 8-7 (11-9)
MAIN DRAW SINGLES – ROUND OF 32
- Tyler Stice (Auburn) def. No. 124 Cloes (South Alabama), 6-3, 6-4
- No. 110 Hamish Stewart (Tulane) def. Marzol (South Alabama), 7-5, 6-3
- Delcour def. Ivailo Keremedchiev (Louisiana), 7-6 (7-5), 6-4
NOTES
- Cloes and Marzol – seeded 10th and ranked 37th nationally – advance to the quarterfinal round of the doubles Main Draw for the second-straight year at the ITA Southern Regional.
- The Jag duo advanced to the finals of the Main Draw last fall and earned a bid to the ITA Fall Championships.
- The singles match for Cloes was the 100th of his Jaguar career.
- Delcour won his fourth-straight singles match at the tournament and was over the eighth-seeded player in the singles Main Draw.
- Tulane's Stewart was the fifth seed in the draw.
UP NEXT
- Cloes and Marzol will now take on Mississippi State's team of Davide Tortora / Gregor Ramskogier seeded sixth and ranked No. 32 by the ITA in the quarterfinal round of the Doubles Main Draw at 3 p.m. Delcour will also compete in the quarterfinals of the Singles Main Draw and face Auburn's Tim Dollman at 9 a.m. Cloes (10:30 a.m.) and Marzol (9 a.m.) will also have consolation singles matches against Marcelo Sepulveda Garza (Alabama) and Matteo Davencentis (Auburn), respectively.
THEY SAID IT
Head coach Nick Brochu
- On the doubles performances on Saturday: "It was a very good day in doubles. Loïc and Clem really took care of business. They took care of their first match and then got off to a quick start in their second match as well. That's the key. If you're able to take the lead in this Pro-Set format, your opponent is always trying to catch up. Loïc and Clem played solid tennis and were dominant. I'm proud of their doubles.
"Louis [Delcour] and Martin [Bugaj] competed very well, which wasn't surprising to me. They competed very hard in the first match and were able to defeat a very explosive team from Samford. Their second match was a crazy match that they lost 11-9 in the breaker. You really wanted them to get those few points that would have given them the win, but the key was when we were up a break and we made too many double faults, which allowed our opponents to get back into the match. By the time you get to the tiebreaker, it's anybody's match. We had a few match points, but we weren't able to seal the deal. It was very good high-level tennis though."
- On Marzol's singles play in the Main Draw: "Singles just really didn't work for us today. Clem played well, but wasn't able to pull out the big points he's usually able to do. He missed a few no-adds and what really hurt him were the games that he was a head and should have closed out, he made a few mistakes and his opponent was able to get back into the game. All of a sudden you're broken and that really cost him in the first set. He played a good opponent, but just missed a few too many balls at the net."
- On Cloes' singles play in the Main Draw: "Loïc had a horrible day. He was focused too much on the mistakes that he made. Every time he made a good ball, instead of focusing on the positive of the play, he was just negative and talk about the games he didn't win. There was a lot of negative energy on the court. At the end of the day, every player at this tournament is good regardless of whether they are seeded or not. Because of his attitude, he wasn't able to compete at the level that he needed to.
- On Delcour's singles play in the Main Draw: "Louis played some outstanding tennis today. He grinded things out and beat a seeded player. It was his four singles match in three days and he was able to dig really deep and made his opponent play. At the end of the match, he just out-worked his opponent. It's always good to have a win against a conference opponent."
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/WeAreSouth_JAGS. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
Join the Baseline Club, the tennis-specific support club of the Jaguar Athletic Fund. All donations to the Baseline Club go directly to support the South Alabama men's and women's tennis programs. For more information on how you can join visit: http://jaguarathleticfund.com/baselineclub
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