Baylor
ITA Southwest Regional
Men's Tennis Shines On Opening Day
10/24/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Oct. 24, 2009
COLLEGE STATION, Texas- Baylor men's tennis had a very successful first day in the 2009 Wilson/ITA South Central Region Championships Saturday at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center in College Station, Texas. The Bears saw the advancement of three singles players to the round of 32 and both doubles pairs to the round of 16.
There are 13 schools in the state of Texas that are sending participants to the event. The singles and doubles champions from the Wilson/ITA South Central Region Championships will advance to the 2009 ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships to be held on Nov. 5-8 at Yale University in New Haven, Conn.
All four Baylor singles players received opening round byes Saturday morning to advance to the round of 64. In that round three of the four Bears were able to secure wins that advance them on to tomorrow's round of 32 play.
"I thought it was a pretty good start to the day, certainly a pretty good start overall," men's tennis coach Matt Knoll said. "We just got to work our way into the tournament and play better. The first day is always a little shaky with nerves or whatever. We just got to settle in and play some better tennis tomorrow."
Senior Attila Bucko overcame a 6-4 opening set loss to Jason Lateko of UT-Arlingotn to win the next two sets, 6-4, 6-2, to stay alive in the qualifying tournament. Bucko is a nine-seed in the event and will now play 17th-seeded Marius Cirstea of TCU Sunday at 10 a.m. Saturday's win gives Bucko, who is ranked No. 85 in the ITA preseason rankings, a fall record of 6-4.
Junior Jordan Rux made quick work of Abdelhamid Riani of UT-Pan American with a 6-0, 6-1 win in round of 64 action. The fourth seed in the tournament and the ITA preseason rankings' 27th player improved his fall record to 8-1. Rux will now face Jon Wiegand of Texas Sunday at 10 a.m. in round of 32 play.
Sophomore Julian Bley (Veitshoechheim, Germany) also won in convincing fashion taking care of Alex Hilliard of Texas, 6-2, 6-4. Bley is a nine-seed in tournament as well and is ranked No. 113 in the preseason listings. The sophomore, who improved his record to 4-4 with the win, will now face Artem Baradach of SMU at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday.
Sophomore Maros Horny was not as successful as his three teammates falling in round of 64 action to Michael Nusslein of Rice in a close 7-5, 7-6(5) contest. Horny, a 17-seed, will play against Brett Berstein of UT-Pan American in consolation action at 8:30 a.m. Sunday after the second round loss. The defeat drops the sophomore's record to 3-3.
In doubles action, the tandem of Bley and Bucko won their opening round of 64 match over Ben Chen and Vasil Mladenov of Texas, 8-3. In round of 32 play the pairing took out the tournament's six-seed of Gonzalo Escobar and Andre Stabile of Texas Tech, 9-8. The duo will play Zach Nichols and Christopher Price of TCU on Sunday at 3 p.m. The pairing is 2-1 on the fall season.
Baylor's other doubles pair, Rux and Horny, had a bye in the first round and then won their second round match over Mindaugas Celedinas and Dimtry Minkin of UT-Arlington, 8-6. The duo, who is 5-0 on the season, will play Alex Hillard and Daniel Whitehead of Texas Sunday at 3 p.m.
Tournament draws and results can be viewed here for this week's matches.
Live video for selected courts can be viewed through a link at aggieathletics.com.
Saturday Results
Singles
Round of 128
(4) Jordan Rux (BU) Bye
(9) Julian Bley (BU) Bye
(9) Attila Bucko (BU) Bye
(17) Marcos Horny (BU) Bye
Round of 64
(4) Jordan Rux (BU) def. Abdelhamid Riani (UT-Pan Am) 6-0, 6-1
(9) Julian Bley (BU) def. Alex Hilliard (UT) 6-2, 6-4
(9) Attila Bucko (BU) def. Jason Lateko (UTA) 4-6, 6-4, 6-2
Michael Nusslein (Rice) def. (17) Marcos Horny (BU) 7-5, 7-6(5)
Doubles
Round of 64
(2) Rux/Horny Advance (BU) Bye
Bley/Bucko (BU) def. Chen/Mladenov (UT) 8-3
Round of 32
(2) Rux/Horny Advance (BU) def. Celedinas/Minkin (UT-Arlington) 8-6
Bley/Bucko (BU) def. (6) Escobar/Stabile (TT) 9-8
Sunday Schedule
Singles
Round of 32
(4) Jordan Rux (BU) vs. Jon Wiegand (UT) 10 a.m.
(9) Attila Bucko (BU) vs. (17) Marius Cirstea (TCU) 10 a.m.
(9) Julian Bley (BU) vs. Artem Baradach (SMU) 10:30 a.m.
Consolation
Maros Horny (BU) vs. Brett Bernstein (UT-Pan Am)
Doubles
(2) Rux/Horny (BU) vs. Hillard/Whitehead (UT) 3 p.m.
Bley/Bucko (BU) vs. Nichols/Price (TCU) 3 p.m.
Players Mentioned
