TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) - The UCF men's tennis team opened its fall slate on Thursday at the Bedford Cup.
Only open to all the Division I teams from Florida, the Bedford Cup is an annual tournament that rotates between host schools. This year's edition is hosted by Florida State.
Mikhail Sokolovskiy, Danny Kerznerman and Enrique Paya competed in the Singles A Flight, while Vasyl Kiselyov played in the Singles B Flight.
Playing in his first tournament for UCF, Sokolovskiy, the No. 1 seed, squared off with Jakub Wojcik from USF in the opening round. The Russian international made quick work of his American Athletic Conference foe, defeating Wojcik 6-3, 6-1.
Later, Sokolovskiy cruised into the quarterfinals after topping Toll von Winning of North Florida in the quarterfinals, 6-3, 6-1. He will meet the No. 6 seed Ignacio Garcia from FAU for a semifinals bid on Friday.
Kerznerman punched his ticket to the quarterfinals with a pair of victories as the No. 3 seed. The Brooklyn native dispatched Miami's Tatsuki Shimamoto, 6-0, 6-4. In the Round of 16, Kerznerman outlasted Oliver Landert from FGCU in a third set tiebreaker to win 3-6, 6-2, 10-8. The senior will play FSU's Chase Wood in the quarters tomorrow.
Kiselyov had a first-round bye as the No. 4 seed. The Ukrainian international faced a difficult test against Miami's Niclas Genovese, but Kiselyov persevered to a 6-7 (3), 6-1, 10-4 win. Kiselyov dominated his quarterfinal matchup with Marwan Abaza, to the tune a 6-1, 6-1 victory. With a finals spot on the line tomorrow, Kiselyov will duel with Austin Bates from FGCU.
Paya dropped his two matches on Thursday. The sophomore fell to the No. 5 seed Alex Knaff of Florida State, 6-2, 6-2 of the main draw, before dropping a consolation draw contest to South Florida's Nils Heimer.
Paya got some redemption in the Doubles A Flight with his playing partner Kiselyov by knocking off Garcia and Gabriel Sidney from FAU, 6-1. The duo will face the No. 3 seeded team of Knaff and Wood from Florida State.
The doubles combination of Kerznerman and Sokolovskiy had a bye in the first round as the No. 1 seed. The pair will go up against Miami's Dan Dunlap and Christian Langmo on Friday in the quarterfinals.
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