COLLEGE GROVE, Tenn. — Freshman Roshan Santhosh notched two qualifying wins on Thursday at the ITA Ohio Valley Regional Championships to advance into tomorrow's singles main draw at Farm & Forge Tennis Club in College Grove, Tennessee.
Santhosh began his regional tournament versus John Patrick Popowich of Middle Tennessee. After the Commodore held a lead for the majority of the first set, he lost control at the end of the frame, dropping the opener to his Blue Raider counterpart 7-5. Santhosh evened the match up in the second, 6-4. He pulled out to a 3-0 lead in the final set, but Popowich grabbed the next two games to close the gap to 3-2. From there, it was all black and gold, as the freshman rattled off three consecutive games to seal the match.
The second match of the day pinned Santhosh up against Butler's Ronin Kasday for a spot in the main draw bracket. Vanderbilt generated the momentum early as Santhosh took the first set 6-4. Kasday looked to be on the brink of forcing a third set after opening a 5-2 advantage in the next frame. But Santhosh chipped away, eventually sending the second to a tiebreaker where the Dore clinched the match 7-6 (2).
Santhosh joins fellow freshman Leonardo Ljubicic, as well as sophomore Donghyun Hwang and seniors Hugo Coquelin and Danil Panarin, for the main draw on Friday. Match times have yet to be determined.
Matches will be streamed online with live stats overlayed during play. The tournament overview, entry list, draws, results and more can be accessed via the ITA Ohio Valley Regional Championship tournament page.
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