KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The Vanderbilt men’s tennis team continued play Saturday at the 2013 USTA/ITA Ohio Valley Regionals, with two ‘Dores winning a pair of matches to advance to Sunday’s round of 16.
Fifth-seeded Kris Yee and Rhys Johnson each won both of their matches to advance.
“Kris and Rhys were both played really good tennis today,” said Vanderbilt head coach Ian Duvenhage. “Rhys was superb today. He had a great match with Pennington of UK and when he could have packed it in, he just kept battling and pulled out the win in the third. Kris played well today. I’m still seeing lapses of concentration and intensity, but he’s played well enough to move on in this draw.”
Johnson opened the day with an upset over Kentucky’s Beck Pennington, who was the sixth-seed in the draw. After dropping the second set, 7-5, Johnson battled through the third winning 7-5. In his second match, the Australian knocked off 17th-seeded Mark Kovacs of Purdue. Johnson took care of business in the second round, winning 6-1, 6-4 to advance to Sunday.
“Rhys is quietly putting together a great fall,” Duvenhage said. “When I watch him play each match I know what to expect, that is something I want from all of our guys.”
After having a first round bye, Yee won his opening match of this regional tournament easily defeating Bernardo Sanson of Dayton, 6-1, 6-2. His second match of the day was with Jason Jaruvang of IUPUI. The sophomore had a bit more trouble closing out the match, but still got it done in straight sets, winning 7-5, 6-4.
Anton Kovrigin was the only other Commodore to win his first match Saturday, defeating Andy Druffel of Dayton, 6-2, 6-0. Kovrigin lost in his second match to David Biosca of ETSU, 6-4, 6-3.
Three ‘Dores will now move on to Sunday’s action at regionals. Yee and Johnson will play in the round of 16 singles, while the doubles team of Suresh Eswaran and Yee will also play in the doubles quarterfinals.
“Suresh and Kris really came together by chance,” Duvenhage said. “Through this draw they have really shown though that they can be successful. I’m excited to see them move along in this tournament.”
Saturday’s Results
Singles – Second Round
Kris Yee def. Sanson (Dayton): 6-1, 6-2
Ray (Ball State) def. Ryan Smith: 6-3, 6-2
Medinilla (Purdue) def. Jeffrey Offerdahl: 4-6, 6-4, 6-1
Fox (MTSU) def. Suresh Eswaran: 7-6, 6-4
Anton Kovrigin def. Druffel (Dayton): 6-2, 6-0
Rhys Johnson def. Beck Pennington (Kentucky): 6-4, 5-7, 7-5
Singles – Third Round
Kris Yee def. Jaruvang (IUPUI): 7-5, 6-4
Rhys Johnson def. Kovacs (Purdue): 6-1, 6-4
Bioscal (ETSU) def. Anton Kovrigin: 6-4, 6-3
Consolation – First Round
Bhattacharya (Butler) def. Jeffrey Offerdahl (Vandy): 6-1, 7-6
