WACO, Texas – After a six-day stretch of competition, Baylor men's tennis concluded its time of host at the ITA Texas Regionals with Bears making it all the way to the final day in doubles and a trio in the quarterfinals in singles.
 
Doubles pair Luc Koenig and Imran Daniel Hazli went 4-1 on the week, falling in the finals to the No. 4 seed from Texas Timo Legout and Lucas Brown, 6-3, 7-5. The pair, having never played together prior to the Regional, proved to find success after capitalizing on a win against No. 57 duo Arthus De La Bassetiere and Kabeer Kapasi of Rice in the semifinals, 3-6, 6-2, 10-4, to advance to the finals. The pair was just one win away from earning a bid to the NCAA Individual Championships.
 
On the singles side, Zsombor Velcz led the Bears in the main draw, going 5-1 and finishing in third place out of the 108-player field. During the week, No.4 seed Velcz defeated two ranked Longhorns, #124 Lucas Brown 6-3, 6-3 and #17 JC Roddick 6-1, 6-2. His take down of the No. 17 player in the nation claimed his third-place finish.
 
"Really thought we got better this week here," head coach Michael Woodson said. "It was an excellent event. We had great weather. Everything went smoothly. Our staff did a really good job of putting on a first-class event for our region. You could tell that from, not only just our guys, but from all participants, coaches, players, fan, etc. that it was a super successful event. It was great to have representation in the doubles finals and to have three guys in the quarterfinals in singles. For Zsombor to take third place, I thought, was really solid for the toughest region in the country."
 
In the quarterfinals of the singles main bracket, Baylor had three Bears in the mix with Velcz, No. 5 seed Devin Badenhorst and Marko Miladinovic. Badenhorst fell to the No. 29 ranked Jonah Braswell, who finished as the singles finalist, in the quarters prior to going 3-1 and earning a ranked win. Miladinovic also went 3-1 and earned a ranked win before falling in the quarters. Miladinovic is now 3-1 in the fall season against ranked singles opponents.
 
Oskar Brostrom Poulsen fell in the singles Round of 64 in three sets but didn't let that stop him. Brostrom Poulsen went on a tear with four straight victories to win out the singles consolation bracket.
 
Doubles pair Louis Bowden and Quintan Van Wijk made it to the quarterfinals of the doubles bracket before falling to Texas Legout and Brown.
 
"We're seeing consistent improvement in all our guys and continuing to lean into the challenge of reaching the next level at all times," continued Woodson. "We're really motivated from this event and excited for ITA Sectionals as well as a couple of other tournaments here coming up before we get into NCAAs. It was definitely a positive event for Baylor and our tennis program and excited for what's ahead!"
 
WHAT'S NEXT
The Bears have a short break before getting right back in action at the Ralson/Neufeld Coaches Challenge in Dallas, Texas on Nov. 1-3.