Tulane University
ITA All-American Championships
Koepfer and Jao Advance at All-American Championships
Oct 8, 2015 | Men's Tennis
All American Championships Homepage
TULSA, Okla. - The Tulane men's tennis tandem of Dominik Koepfer and Chi-Shan Jao got off to a great start in the first round of the singles and doubles main draws on Thursday at the ITA All-American Championships. Koepfer's 6-4, 6-3 win in singles launched the senior into the Round of 32, while Koepfer and Jao cruised against the 16th ranked doubles pair in the country, recording a 6-0, 6-3 straight-set victory, thus pushing the duo into the Round of 16.
The fourth-seeded and No. 10 ranked Koepfer knocked off North Carolina's Brett Clark, who is ranked No. 51 in the country. Up next, the Germany native will look to surge past Minnesota's No. 38 Matic Spec, who took down Florida's Diego Hidalgo today, 6-3, 3-6, 7-5.
"Dom came out very energetic and played with a purpose today," assistant coach James McKie said. "Even though he didn't play his best tennis, he executed in tough situations, and with the new rules, this is crucial. He has big goals in this tournament, however, we just have to take it one small step at a time."
Up next, Koepfer and Jao will look to win their fifth straight in Tulsa. In order to earn a quarterfinals berth though, the Green Wave twosome will have to defeat Harvard's Nicholas Hu and Brian Yeung, who bested the No. 2 seeded Hugo Dojas and Felipe Soares of Texas Tech, 6-4, 6-3.
"Jao and Dom are really playing great doubles," McKie added. "They are taking everything on board and believing in their ability. They have to continue to play smart, communicate and bring a lot of positive energy to the court."
In other action today, sophomore Constantin Schmitz's run in the singles main draw at the All-American Championships came to an end, falling to No. 65 ranked Henry Craig of Denver.
For all updates be sure to follow @GreenWaveMTenn on Twitter and check in with TulaneGreenWave.com. In addition, the All-American Championships homepage can be accessed at: http://www.itatennis.com/Events/ITANationalChampionships/MensAllAmerican.htm
Full Tulane All-American Championship Results
Singles Main Draw
Rd of 64: No. 4 seeded Dominik Koepfer (TU) def. Brett Clark (UNC), 6-4, 6-3
Rd of 64: Henry Craig (DEN) def. Constantin Schmitz (TU), 6-3, 6-3
Doubles Main Draw
Rd of 32: Koepfer/Jao (TU) def. Craig/Gasson (DEN), 6-0, 6-3
Players Mentioned
