TCU
ITA All-American Tournament
Frogs Wrap Up ITA All-American Prequalifying
10/4/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Oct. 4, 2009
TULSA, Okla.—TCU continued play Sunday at the D'Novo Men's ITA All-American Tennis Championships and featured junior Zach Nichols and freshman Marius Cirstea competing in the final stages of the singles prequalifying draw at Tulsa's Michael D. Case Tennis Center.
Nichols and Cirstea both reached Round 3 by winning matches in Round 2 on the opening day of competition Saturday. Nichols took his Round 3 match Sunday before falling in a tough two-set battle in Round 4. Cirstea was eliminated from the field after suffering a setback in Round 3 play early in the day.
Nichols opened the final day of prequalifying by earning his second straight victory in the bracket in a tight match with Old Dominion's Benjamin Chomette. After winning set one, the Frog junior was taken to a third set by Chomette before notching the win, 6-2, 4-6, 10-7.
"Zach played very well, extremely strong, in his first match," assistant coach Jason Marshall said. "As the match wore on, his opponent found his way back into the battle. Zach played a very good counter-puncher and was actually down in the breaker and rallied to win. It was nice to see him rebound like that."
Nichols fell to Ohio State's Devin McCarthy, the draw's No. 7 seed, in the following round, 6-3, 7-6(7).
"McCarthy is a good player," Marshall said. "It started out slow for Zach in the match. He found his rhythm in the second set. It went to the tiebreaker in that second set and could have gone either way. He lost a close one."
Cirstea joined Nichols in competition Sunday. Cirstea, who earned a straight-sets win in Round 2 a day earlier, faced a stiff challenge in 17th-seeded Santiago Villegas of Virginia. Villegas quickly took the first set, but Cirstea put up a valiant fight in the second set prior to being eliminated from the tournament, 6-1, 7-5.
Like Nichols' Round 4 opponent, Villegas eventually went on to reach the qualifying draw after earning a win in Round 4.
"It's been a decent couple days for us so far at this tournament," Marshall said. "There are a couple more matches we wish we could have had, but I think every team here probably has that same feeling."
TCU continues action at the D'Novo ITA All-American Championships Monday in Tulsa, as competition in the qualifying singles and doubles draw begins. 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. 4, 2009
Tulsa, Okla. (Michael D. Case Tennis Center)
MEN'S PREQUALIFYING SINGLES
Round 3
(17) Santiago Villegas (Virginia) def. Marius Cirstea (TCU) 6-1, 7-5
Zach Nichols (TCU) def. Benjamin Chomette (Old Dominion) 6-2, 4-6, 10-7
Round 4
(9) Devin McCarthy (Ohio State) def. Zach Nichols (TCU) 6-3, 7-6(7)
Players Mentioned
