ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) – The UCF men’s tennis team opened the Bedford Cup at the UCF Collegiate Tennis Center at the USTA National Campus on Friday. Alan Rubio and Mikhail Sokolovskiy reached the quarterfinals of the main singles draw.
Rubio, the No. 6 seed in the top flight, won in straight sets to start the tournament against El Mehdi Laalej from FAU, 6-0, 7-6 (1). The sophomore punched his ticket to the quarters with another straight set victory over Florida State’s Sebastian Arcila. Rubio will face either South Florida’s Sergio Gomez-Montesa pr Gabriel Sidney from FAU on Saturday.
Sokolovskiy needed four sets to cruise through two matches. The Russian international dispatched the No. 8 seed Chase Ferguson from South Florida in the opening round, 7-5, 6-3. He followed that up with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Victor Castro from Bethune-Cookman. Sokolovskiy will take on teammate Juan Pablo Grassi Mazzuchi, who is playing this tournament unattached in the No. 2 seed, in the quarterfinals.
The No. 3 seed Trey Hilderbrand won his first round contest against North Florida’s Till Von Winning in straight sets 6-2, 7-6(4). The rookie was edged in the second round by Pierre Luquet from South Florida in a tough battle, 1-6, 6-4, 7-5.
Hilderbrand and Rubio teamed up as the No. 3 seed in the top flight. The duo needed a tiebreak to down Sebastian Arcila and Richard Thongoana from Florida State 8-7(5). The tandem will face Felip Escobar and Mateo Ruiz from FGCU on Saturday morning.
Freshman Manoel Alencar was bested by No. 7 seed Jakub Wojcik in the opening round of singles, 6-2, 6-3. He will face the winner of North Florida’s Till Von Winning and Ignacio Garcia from FAU in the consolation draw on Saturday.
Earlier in the day, Alencar and Sokolovskiy were paired for doubles action. The duo dropped their match to Thomas Guy and Alvaro Hernandez Horta from FAU, 8-4. They will take on Chase Ferguson and Sergio Gomez-Montesa from War on I-4 rivals South Florida on Saturday.
After a bye as the No. 1 seed, Vasyl Kiselyov fell in his quarterfinal match to Feliksas Sakalauskas from FGCU, 6-4, 7-6(7). Saitejas Mopuri dropped his opening round tussle in the third flight against Tim Gennes, 6-2, 6-4, from Stetson. He rebounded in the consolation draw with a 7-5, 6-1 win over Ivan Morin Kougoucheff.
Mopuri and Kiselyov will meet Louis Gorregeus and Dennis Moses from Stetson in the quarterfinals of the doubles second flight on Saturday, after the pairing beat Enzo Le Seguillion and Bryn Nahrung from Florida State, 8-6 earlier in the day.
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