Rauch and Lemke Advance at ITA Pre-Qualifier

Saturday, October 3

Tulsa, Okla.

All Day

University of Memphis

ITA Pre-Qualifier

Photo by: Joe Murphy

Oct 03, 2015 | Men's Tennis

Two Tigers advance on championship side of the draw.

By: Tammy DeGroff

TULSA – Freshman Felix Rauch and sophomore Kai Lemke each advanced to the round of 128 at the ITA All-American Pre-qualifier that started at the University of Tulsa, Saturday.

Freshman Chris Patzanovsky got the first win of the day for the Tigers, winning his way in to the draw with a 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 win over conference foe Hicham Belkssir of Temple, the Owls' No. 3 singles player last season.

The win put Patzanovsky in the same round as four of his Tiger teammates. He would fall in the round of 256 to seeded Ricardo Medinilla of Purdue. But a pair of his teammates would advance to the Round of 128.

Fellow freshman Felix Rauch defeated Illinois State's Christoffer Greve, 7-6 (2), 6-3, to advance to a Sunday match against UCLA's Ryoto Tachi at 11:30 a.m.

Also playing in his first All-American, sophomore Kai Lemke also advanced to the Round of 128 with a 6-4, 6-2 win over William & Mary's Aiden Talcott. Lemke will face ETSU's Diego Nunez at 10:30 a.m., Sunday.

Two other Tigers fell in the round of 256. Junior Louis Asser won the first set of his match against Arizona's Oliver Plaskett, 6-4, but Plaskett came back to win the second and third sets, 6-1, 6-2. Sophomore Shakeel Manji battled to a first set tiebreaker, but fell 7-6 (7), 6-2 to Tulane's Chi-Shan Jao. Manji was one of two Tigers to face American Athletic Conference foes on day one of the ITA All-American.

Asser, Manji and Patzanovsky will all play consolation singles matches Sunday.

Fellow Tigers Andrew Watson and Ryan Peniston are both awaiting the qualifiers out of the prequalifying draw in the qualifying draw. The qualifying draw will begin Monday. Watson and Lemke are also in the qualifying draw in doubles, which also begins, Monday.

Round of 512
Chris Patzanovsky (Memphis) def. Hicham Belkssir (Temple), 5-7, 6-3, 6-3
Round of 256
Felix Rauch (Memphis) def. Christoffer Greve (Illinois State), 7-6 (2), 6-3
Kai Lemke (Memphis) def. Aiden Talcott (William & Mary), 6-4, 6-2
Oliver Plaskett (Arizona) def. Louis Asser (Memphis), 4-6, 6-1, 6-2
Chi-Shan Jao (Tulane) def. Shakeel Manji (Memphis), 7-6 (7), 6-2
Ricardo Medinilla (Purdue) def. Chris Patzanovsky (Memphis), 7-5, 7-5
Upcoming Schedule
Round of 128
Sunday, 11:30 a.m. – Felix Rauch (Memphis) vs. Ryoto Tachi (UCLA)
Sunday, 10:30 a.m. – Kai Lemke (Memphis) vs. Diego Nunez (ETSU)
Consolation Singles
Sunday, Noon – Louis Asser (Memphis) vs. Mackenzie Stearns (Marquette)
Sunday, 4:30 p.m. – Shakeel Manji (Memphis) vs. Vineet Naran (Temple)
Sunday, 5:00 p.m. – Chris Patzanovsky (Memphis) vs. Jake Stefanik (Kentucky)