Tulane University
ITA All-American Championships
Men's Tennis Continues to Roll at All-American Championships
Oct 9, 2015 | Men's Tennis
Doubles Main Draw | Singles Main Draw
TULSA, Okla. - The second day of the main singles and doubles draw at the ITA All-American Championships in Tulsa, Oklahoma, produced the same result for the Tulane men's tennis team, as Dominik Koepfer advanced to the Round of 16 in singles and Koepfer and Chi-Shan Jao made the quarterfinal round in doubles.
"I think the win tonight shows where our doubles has come over the last two months," Tulane assistant coach James McKie said. "We are playing aggressive and smart. That pair is one of the best teams in the country, we just kept fighting and were able to come out on top. Being in the quarterfinals of the All-American Championships is very impressive, but I know for a fact these guys want more."
Koepfer continued to roll in singles play, quickly besting Minnesota's No. 38 ranked Matic Spec, 6-3, 6-3. In order for Koepfer to reach his second straight quarterfinal at the All-American Championships, thus automatically qualifying for the ITA National Indoor Championships, the senior will have to go through Florida State's Benjamin Lock, at 9:30 a.m. CT on Saturday. The 25th nationally ranked Seminole defeated No. 50 Alex Ghilea of Oklahoma on Friday by the score of 6-1, 1-6, 7-5.
Also important to note that Koepfer is now just one singles victory away from tying Dennis Lundberg's 76 career wins (1996-2000), which ranks third all-time in Green Wave history.
Today's doubles match once again displayed quite the fight from No. 39 ranked Koepfer and Jao, as they took on Harvard's Hu and Yeung, ranked No. 37 nationally. In the first set, both sides held serve till 5-5, until Harvard pushed ahead to take it 7-5. However, the Green Wave rallied in the second set. After losing a 5-3 lead, and moving into a tiebreak, the Tulane duo cruised to a 7-2 finish.
Then, the third set super tiebreak proved to be another close finish. Going back-and-forth, Tulane and Harvard found themselves tied at 8-8. Yet Koepfer and Jao once again proved resilient, pushing ahead to clinch it at 10-8.
Up next for the Tulane twosome will be 5-8 seed Maxx Lipman and Elliot Orkin of Florida, ranked No. 12 in the nation. The Gators tandem defeated Tulsa's Kirby/McCloskey, 1-6, 6-2, 1-0(7). Tomorrow's encounter will get underway at 3 p.m. CT.
Finally, sophomore Constantin Schmitz was also in action on Friday, competing in the first round of the consolation bracket vs. No. 17 Austin Smith of Georgia. Schmitz rallied with a 6-3 second set, after dropping the first set 7-5, but Smith ultimately prevailed with a 6-3 third set, to advance and end Schmitz's run in Tulsa.
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 32: No. 4 seeded Dominik Koepfer (TU) def. Matic Spec (MINN), 6-3, 6-3
Doubles Main Draw
Rd of 16: Koepfer/Jao (TU) def. Hu/Yeung (HARV), 5-7, 7-6(2), 1-0(8)
Singles Consolation
1st Rd: Austin Smith (UGA) def. Constantin Schmitz (TU), 7-5, 3-6, 6-3
