EDMOND, Okla. -- Washburn men's tennis got off to a strong start on day one of the ITA Regional Championships on Thursday advancing all three doubles teams and four singles players into the round of 16. Action will pick up again at 9 a.m. on Friday.
In the main draw of doubles competition Benjamin Fock and Nicolas Hurtado-Novoa battled for a first round 8-7(3) tiebreaker victory to begin the day. Graham Faris and Petr Leipner were knocked out in the round of 32, falling 8-4. Keita Kuroda and Gael Mourmant advanced into Friday play with an 8-5 victory. Yuto Miyagawa and Kilian Martinez matched their efforts, also winning by an 8-5 score in the opening round.
On the singles courts Kilian Martinez worked a pair of two-set victories to move into the round of 16. Petrl Leipner fell in an opening-set tiebreaker and lost in two sets in the round of 64. Benjamin Fock cruised through two match victories on the day, losing only two total games in four sets.
Keita Kuroda led off his singles run with a two-set victory but fell short in a third set 10-point tiebreaker in the round of 32. After breaking through for a three-set victory in the opening round, Nicolas Hurtado-Novoa won in two sets in the second round to advance into Friday. Yuto Miyagawa began his run with a two-set victory and followed it up by winning in three sets in the second round. Gael Mourmant moved into the second round, winning in two sets in the round of 64 before falling in two sets in the next round.
Graham Faris worked a two-set victory in his first singles match as part of Flight B.
Doubles competition:
Main Draw
R32 – Nitzschke, Lucas/Halisdemir, Demir (SAU) def. Faris, Graham/Leipner, Petr (WU) 8-4
R32 – Fock, Benjamin/Hurtado-Novoa, Nicolas (WU) def. Grover, Dhruveer/West, Luke (ESU) 8-7(3)
R32 – Kuroda, Keita/Mourmant, Gael (WU) def. Djokovic, Balsa/Almeida Andres, Pedro (SAU) 8-5
R32 – Miyagawa, Yuto/Martinez, Kilian (WU) def. Aramburu, Tomas/Linet, Baptiste (NESU) 8-5
Singles competition:
Main Draw
R64 – Martinez, Kilian (WU) def. Monteiro, Vitor (NWMSU) 6-3, 6-2
R64 – Aebi, Yarin (OBU) def. Leipner, Petr (WU) 7-6(1), 6-0
R64 – Fock, Benjamin (WU) def. Walkey, Chase (HU) 6-0, 6-1
R64 – Kuroda, Keita (WU) def. Pinto, Pedro (AU) 6-2, 6-3
R64 – Hurtado-Novoa, Nicolas (WU) def. Padilla Munoz, Fabian (SEOSU) 6-3, 7-6(5)
R64 – Miyagawa, Yuto (WU) def. Bedir, Kivanic (UAFS) 6-0, 6-2
R64 – Mourmant, Gael (WU) def. Djokovic, Balsa (SAU) 7-6(4), 6-4
R32 – Arwedahl, Birk (UAFS) def. Mourmant, Gael (WU) 6-2, 7-5
R32 – Miyagawa, Yuto (WU) def. Rootman, Heinrich (HU) 4-6, 6-0, 10-5
R32 – Martinez, Kilian (WU) def. Almeida Andres, Pedro (SAU) 6-1, 6-1
R32 – Fock, Benjamin (WU) def. Viau, Alexis (SEOSU) 6-0, 6-1
R32 – Brisdon, Andy (UNK) def. Kuroda, Keita (WU) 2-6, 6-0, 10-8
R32 – Hurtado-Novoa, Nicolas (WU) def. Moretti, Enzo (AU) 6-3, 6-3
Flight B
R32 – Faris, Graham (WU) def. Simu, Calin (OBU) 6-4, 6-4
