Men's Tennis advances with strong play at Rice Invitational
HOUSTON -- The University of Texas men's tennis team completed the first day of competition at the Seventh Annual Met/Rice Indoor Invitational at the Downtown Club at the Met on Friday, Jan. 21. In flight A singles, sixth-seeded Roger Gubser (Laredo, Texas) defeated Jason Mok of Rice, 6-2, 6-1, in first-round action and later posted a, 6-3, 6-3, victory over Raul Rivas of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the round of 16. The win advanced Gubser to the quarterfinals where he will face fourth-seeded Devin Mullings of Ohio State. Freshman Travis Helgeson (Overland Park, Kan.) received a walkover in his first-round match after Dennis Mertens of Ohio State withdrew due to illness. In the round of 16, Helgeson recorded a, 6-4, 6-2, victory over Jeremy Blandin of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Helgeson, the eighth seed in flight A singles, will face top-seeded Benedikt Dorsch of Baylor in the quarterfinals. Also advancing was sophomore Hubert Chodkiewicz (Corpus Christi, Texas) who defeated Anthony Portois of UT-San Antonio, 6-4, 7-5, in first-round action, then needed three sets, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, to defeat Nebraska's Gerhard Posch. Chodkiewicz will take on third-seeded Robert Searle of Rice in the quarterfinals. Junior Callum Beale (Adelaide, Australia) and freshman Milan Mihailovic (Nis, Serbia) were both defeated in first-round action. Beale lost to Searle, 6-4, 6-4, and Mihailovic fell to second-seeded Benjamin Becker of Baylor, 6-1, 6-3. The losses moved both players into the back draw where Beale withdrew due to illness and Mihailovic posted a, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4, victory over Nebraska's James Clow. Mihailovic will face Marcus Lunt of Tyler Junior College in the consolation second round. In flight B singles, top-seeded Luis Diaz Barriga (Cordoba, Mexico) will face fifth-seeded Marcus Sundh of Kentucky in Saturday's quarterfinals after defeating Bryce Hicks of Abilene Christian, 7-5, 6-2, and John Greenberg of Rice, 6-4, 6-4, in first and second-round action. Sophomore Garrett Snyder advanced to the quarterfinals after posting an upset victory over seventh-seeded Nolan Polley of Kentucky, 7-6, 6-3, in the first round and a three set, 6-4, 2-6, 6-1, win over Amrit Narmishan of Tyler Junior College in the round of 16. Snyder will face fourth-seeded Hooney Shin of Rice on Saturday. The newest member of the Longhorns squad, freshman Bernhard Deussner (Vienna, Austria), needed three sets to defeat Jason Ray of Abilene Christian, 6-3, 4-6, 6-1, in the first round, but later lost to sixth-seeded Guillamme Tonelli of Tyler Junior College, 6-3, 6-4, in the round of 16. Junior Jeremy Hubbard (Lindale, Texas) was defeated, 6-3, 6-3, by Abilene Christian's Antin Tafazoli in the first round and then lost to third-seeded Javier Bacaicoa of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the first round of the back draw, 6-3, 6-2. Flight A doubles saw Helgeson and Chodkiewicz team to defeat Nebraska's Joel Reckaway and Adrian Szatmary, 8-5. The duo will face Texas A&M-Corpus Christi's Raul Rivas and Oscar Roman in Saturday's quarterfinals. Meanwhile, the tandem of Gubser and Beale posted an 8-5 victory over Jeremy Blandin and Gonzalo Figuereido of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the first round and will square off with fourth-seeded Ben Harknett and Robert Searle of Rice in the quarterfinals. In other doubles action, Diaz Barriga and Snyder posted a first-round loss to Baylor's Benjamin Becker and Vladimir Portnov, 8-5. The Texas tandem will play third-seeded Ricardo Almeida and Dennis Andrade of UT-San Antonio in the first round of the back draw on Saturday. Action at the Met/Rice Indoor Invitational continues Saturday, Jan. 22, with singles at 8:30 a.m. followed by doubles at 2:30 p.m. (Central). Flight A Singles Round of 32 Flight A Singles Round of 16 Flight A Singles Consolation First Round Flight B Singles Round of 32 Flight B Singles Round of 16 Flight B Singles Consolation First Round Flight A Doubles Round of 16
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