Oct. 1, 2010
Arlington, Texas - The Rice Fall Invitational got underway Friday morning with several of the men's tennis players advancing to the quarterfinals in singles action.
"It was a pretty good day of tennis," said Head Coach Diego Benitez. "We got some good wins under our belts, and we had a couple of matches that could have gone either way. If we continue playing like this tomorrow and Sunday we will make some major noise."
Junior Mindaugas Celedinas, sophomore Yauheni Yakauleu and newcomer Erik Hjertonsson recorded wins in singles action, advancing to the quarterfinals Saturday afternoon.
Celedinas knocked off Rice's Isamu Tachibana, 7-5, 6-0 in the singles A bracket while Yakauleu handed David Holiner of Texas a 6-1, 7-5 setback in the singles B bracket at the Jake Hess Tennis Stadium. Celedinas will now face Daniel Whitehead of Texas while Yakauleu will go head-to-head against Harry Fowler of Rice. The teammates will compete Saturday at 12 p.m.
Also in the singles A bracket, Lucas Leppin dropped a 6-4, 6-1 decision to Sudanwa Sitaram of Texas. The newcomer will now move to the consolation bracket where he will face Peter Frank of Rice tomorrow at 10 a.m.
In the singles C bracket, Nicolas Moreno lost his match to Oliver Borsos of LSU, 6-3, 6-3. Moreno moves to the consolation bracket where he will go head-to-head against Chris Camillone of Texas at 10 a.m. tomorrow.
Also in the singles C bracket, Hjertonsson moved to the quarterfinals after recording a win over LSU's James Turbervill. The newcomer will now face Philipp Seifert of Rice tomorrow at noon.
Brieuc Hamon, Giacomo Sano and David Subirats were all placed in the singles D bracket. Hamon suffered a 6-1, 6-1 setback to Rice's Christian Saravia. The senior moves to the consolation bracket where he will face teammate Sano at 10 a.m. tomorrow.
Subirats also suffered a loss in his first singles match to Alex Hilliard of Texas. The junior fought hard against his Big 12 opponent but fell short, 4-6, 6-3, and 7-6 (3). He now faces Jonathan Chang of Rice tomorrow at 10 a.m.
Sano also turned in a hard effort in his first match of the tournament but suffered a 3-6, 6-2 and 6-3 loss to LSU's Cody Loup. Sano continues tournament action tomorrow at 10 a.m. where he will face his teammate Hamon.
In doubles action A bracket, tandem Celedinas and Leppin advanced to the next round after their 8-4 win over Rice's Peter Frank and Harry Fowler. The duo will be back in action tomorrow morning when they take on Chris Camillone and David Holiner of Texas.
Also playing in the doubles A bracket, Hamon and Moreno didn't have the same luck as their teammates, falling 8-4 to Daniel Whitehead and Alex Hilliard of Texas. Hamon and Sano will match-up against Tachibana and Christian Saravia of Rice in the consolation bracket.
In the doubles B bracket, Yakauleu and Hjertonsson dropped an 8-6 decision to Julien Gauthier and James Turbervill of LSU. The tandem move to the consolation bracket to face Phillip Seifert and Jonathan Chang of Rice.
