Oct. 2, 2009
By Doug Richards
UCFAthletics.com
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - Members of the UCF men's tennis team picked up several impressive victories during day one of the Seminole Invitational Friday on the Florida State campus. Most notably, sophomore Claudio Romano (Valencia, Venezuela) won a pair of matches in Singles A Draw competition.
After a 7-5, 6-4 opening round win over Yannick Yoshizawa of USF, Romano met Dan Cash of Florida. After a strong start by Cash, Romano recovered to post a 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (1) win.
Senior Johan Beigart (Vaxjo, Sweden) and junior Blaze Schwartz (Pensacola, Fla.) both registered Singles A Draw consolation bracket wins.
Play at the tournament will continue Saturday and conclude the following day. In Singles B Draw first round action, sophomore Joe Delinks (Falmouth, Mass.) eased past Owen Long of Florida State, 6-2, 6-2. Sophomore Eugene Dolgovykh (Palm Coast, Fla.) and freshman Mario Samson (Miami, Fla.) also had singles tilts Friday. Dolgovykh posted a 6-1, 6-2 opening round win over Jacksonville's Andrew Lerner before retiring during his second round match.
The event is the second of the fall campaign for head coach Bobby Cashman's Knights. The squad opened the season on Sept. 17 at the Southern Intercollegiates in Athens, Ga.
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Singles A
Tyrone Ewels (UAB) def. Blaze Schwartz (UCF) 6-3, 3-6, 6-1
Claudio Romano (UCF) def. Yannick Yoshizawa (USF) 7-5, 6-4
Eric Corace (UF) def. Johan Beigart (UCF) 7-6, 7-6
Claudio Romano (UCF) def. Dan Cash (UF) 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (1)
Singles A Consolation
Blaze Schwartz (UCF) def. Marc Masinovic (Bethune-Cookman) 6-3, 6-2
Johan Beigart (UCF) def. Yannick Jackson (Bethune-Cookman) 6-1, 6-1
Singles B
Joe Delinks (UCF) def. Owen Long (FSU) 6-2, 6-2
Eugene Dolgovykh (UCF) def. Andrew Lerner (JU) 6-1, 6-2
Tanner Stump (Miss. St.) def. Mario Samson (UCF) 6-4, 6-4
Harold Williams (FAMU) def. Eugene Dolgovykh (UCF) 1-6, 6-3, 4-0 (ret.)