ATHENS, Ga. (ORLANDO, Fla.) – The UCF men’s tennis team opened the 2018 ITA Southeast Regional Championship on Saturday at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex at the University of Georgia.
Trey Hilderbrand and Juan Pablo Grassi Mazzuchi reached the second round of the main singles draw.
Hilderbrand advanced after his opponent Diego Padilha retired due to injury in the opening set. The rookie from Texas will face Oliver Stuart from Mercer in the second round.
Grassi Mazzuchi took down War On I-4 foe Jacob Wojcik from South Florida in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4. The freshman will meet Alvaro Fernandez Horta from FAU on Sunday.
The newcomers paired up in doubles action to earn a spot in the round of 16. Following an opening match win against Stefano Di Aloy and Martikn Kerssens from Georgia Southern, 8-7(3), the tandem rolled against Alex Phillips and Jan Zielinski from Georgia in the second round.
Manoel Alencar fell in his first round battle against South Florida’s Sergio Gomez Montesa, 7-6, 6-1. He will go up against FAU’s Thomas Guy in the consolation draw on Sunday.
Mikhail Sokolovskiy could not upend Brandon Freestone from Georgia Tech, falling 7-5, 6-0. The Russian international will play Britton Johnston of Georgia in the consolation first round.
Vasyl Kiselyov dropped his match against Pierre Luquet of South Florida, 6-3, 6-3. He received a bye in the first round of the consolation draw.
Alan Rubio gave Lukas Greif of Florida all he could handle before falling in the first round, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. The sophomore will start his consolation draw against Miami’s Kaya Gore on Sunday.
In doubles action, Kiselyov and Sokolovskiy teamed up to beat Pablo Aycart Joya and Tatsuki Shimamoto of Miami, 8-7(5). The duo was bested by Oliver Stuart and Nicolas Guillon of Mercer, 8-6, after their first round bye.
Rubio and Alencar were lost a tightly-contested match against Andrei Duarte and Roberts Grinvalds of Georgia State.
Hilderbrand and Mazzuchi will lead the Knights in the singles main draw second round on Sunday, which will also feature the first and second round of the consolation draw, as well as the second and third round of doubles play.
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