TULSA, Okla. – To reach the singles semifinals at the 2018 Saint Francis Health System ITA Men’s All-American Championships, players had to not only deal with a fickle Mother Nature, who couldn’t make up her mind and scattered storms throughout the Tulsa area on Saturday, but survive two rounds of intense on-court competition.
With play forced mostly indoors at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center on the University of Tulsa campus, four individuals and two doubles teams moved a step closer to winning an ITA National Championship.
Alex Brown of Illinois was the first competitor to secure his spot in the semifinals, as he bested Ohio State’s Kyle Seelig 6-2, 6-3 in the quarterfinal round. Earlier in the day, Brown turned back Valentin Vacherot of Texas A&M 6-4, 6-4.
Georgia’s Emil Reinberg soon followed Brown into the semis after he scored a 6-3, 6-3 decision against Stanford’s Axel Geller. Reinberg only dropped three games in his Round of 16 victory over Baylor’s Sven Lah, taking that match 6-2, 6-1.
In the semis, Brown will face No. 1 seed Nuno Borges of Mississippi State. Borges dispatched of No. 6 seed Thomas Laurent of Oregon 7-5, 6-1 in the quarterfinals, and defeated Tulsa’s Majed Kilani 7-6 (5), 6-0 in the Round of 16. Reinberg will face Ohio State’s JJ Wolf, who earned a straight set victory over Alex Lebedev of Notre Dame 6-4, 7-6 (2) in the quarterfinals. Wolf also defeated Paul Jubb of South Carolina 6-2, 6-2 in the Round of 16.
Seelig and Alex Kobelt won the battle of Lucky Losers in their men’s doubles quarterfinal contest against Cal’s Jacob Brumm and Yuta Kikuchi. The Ohio State pair advanced to the semifinals with a 6-2, 6-3 decision. Facing the Buckeyes in the semifinals will be Florida’s Andy Andrade and Oliver Crawford, who knocked off the No. 3 seeded team from South Alabama Loic Cloes and Clement Marzol in the quarterfinals.
Qualifiers Fabian Fallert and Finn Reynolds of Ole Miss punched their ticket to the semifinals with a 7-6 (2), 6-3 win over Virginia Tech’s Henrik Korsgaard and Alex Ribiero. The Rebels will face Baylor’s Jimmy Bendeck and Sven Lah in the semifinals, as the Bears defeated Florida’s Brian Berdusco and Johannes Ingildsen 6-4, 3-6, 1-0 (10) in the quarterfinals.
All eight quarterfinalists qualified for the 2018 Oracle ITA National Fall Championships, along with the two doubles semifinal teams. Consolation finalists in singles and doubles will also qualify for the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships.
Sunday’s action will feature semifinal play in the main and consolation draws, with finals to be held on Monday. To view updated draws and results, access live scoring and video links, read daily recaps and view the photo gallery, head to the Saint Francis Health System ITA Men’s All-American Championships event page .
