TCU
ITA All-American Tournament
Cirstea, Nichols Advance at ITA All-American
10/3/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Oct. 3, 2009
TULSA, Okla.-- The TCU men's tennis team opened play at the D'Novo ITA All-American Championships Saturday by advancing two players to the third round of the prequalifying singles draw. Marius Cirstea and Zach Nichols each won their opening matches to move on in the tournament.
Each of TCU's five players competing on Saturday opened play in Round 2 after receiving byes in the opening round of play.
Cirstea won his opening match over Arthur Surreaux of New Mexico State, 7-5, 6-0, to advance to Saturday's third round of action. Cirstea will play 17th-seeded Santiago Villegas of Virginia on Sunday.
"Marius played better than last weekend," said assistant coach Jason Marshall. "He looked like he was moving better, and he switched to a different racket today. He worked hard in practice this past week. He got off to a good start today, and it was definitely his best match. He looked confident out there and hit the ball very well."
Nichols joined his teammate in the third round by downing Indiana's Alexander Van Gils, 6-4, 6-4. The junior product of Austin, Texas, also utilized a new racket and earned his first win of fall tournament action.
"Zach had used the same rackets for three years before today," Marshall said. "It looked like he was playing much better than a week ago. He hit his backhand very well today."
Nichols will face Oral Roberts' Carlos Salazar in Sunday's third round.
Also in action for TCU Saturday were Paul Chappell, Chris Price and Santiago Centeno. Chappell dropped a 7-6(4), 6-3 decision to No. 7 seed Dusan Medan of Marquette. Price faced a stiff challenge against No. 2 seed Leo Rosenberg (Hawaii at Manoa) and took the match to three sets before falling 3-6, 6-3, 10-5. Centeno also took his match against Bradley's Milos Romic to three sets, but dropped a 6-4, 6-7(4), 10-6 decision.
TCU continues competition at the D'Novo ITA All-American Championships Sunday in Tulsa. Complete draws and results from the weekend can be found by visiting the following link: http://www.itatennis.com/Events/ITANationalChampionships/MensAllAmerican.htm
Results
D'Novo ITA All-American Championships
Oct. 3, 2009
Tulsa, Okla.
MEN'S PREQUALIFYING SINGLES
Round 2
(7) Dusan Medan (Marquette) def. Paul Chappell (TCU) 7-6 (4), 6-3
Zach Nichols (TCU) def. Alexander Van Gils (Indiana), 6-4, 6-4
(2) Leo Rosenberg (Hawaii at Manoa) def. Chris Price (TCU), 3-6, 6-3, 10-5
Marius Cirstea (TCU) def. Arthur Surreaux (New Mexico State), 7-5, 6-0
Milos Romic (Bradley) def. Santiago Centeno (TCU), 6-3, 6-7 (4), 10-6
