Men’s Tennis Advances at Alabama

Friday, September 22

Tuscaloosa, Ala.

All Day

University of Memphis

Alabama Invitational

Photo by: Joe Murphy

Sep 22, 2017 | Men's Tennis

Four In The Fall Bracket

Three Tigers advance to singles consolation semis and doubles both in championship side semis.

By: Tammy DeGroff

MEMPHIS – Memphis advanced three singles entries to the consolation semifinals and has both doubles pairings on the championship side of their respective draws following the opening day of the 2017-18 season at the Alabama Four-In-The-Fall.

In doubles play, both Memphis entries advanced in their respective brackets. The pairing of Kai Lemke and Matt Story, ranked No. 41 in the ITA preseason ranking, defeated the Notre Dame team of Paul Gota/Nathan Griffin, 8-2, to advance to the semifinals of the Crimson Draw. That duo will face the home team of Edson Ortiz and Alexey Nesterov at 9 a.m., Saturday.

In the Houndstooth Draw, the team of Jan Pallares and Turner Voges grabbed an 8-2 win over the Alabama team of Fischer and Zhou and will now face the entry of Darryl Rayl and Conor Somers from Notre Dame in the semifinals at 9 a.m.

In afternoon singles play, Pallares was the lone Memphis entry to advance on the championship side of a draw. He defeated Illinois' Caleb Chakravarthi, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 to earn an afternoon matchup against Florida State's Jose Gracia. Gracia won that afternoon match-up, 7-6 (2), 6-3. Pallares will now play Oklahoma's Jochen Bertsch at 2 p.m., Saturday.

In the bottom half of that same draw, Lemke fell to Florida State's Terrell Whitehurt, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4, but bounced back with a win over Alabama's Zhe Zhou, 7-6 (6), 6-4. He will face Notre Dame's Paul Gota in the consolation semifinal, Saturday, at 12:30 p.m.

Voges and Story both fell in their opening singles matches, but bounced back with victories in the afternoon singles slate to advance to the consolation semifinals. Voges dropped his opener, 6-2, 6-1 to Alabama's Ortiz, but upended Rice's Jacob Eskeland, 6-7, 7-6, 7-6.

Story fell 6-4, 6-4 to Mississippi State's Trevor Foshey, but came back to defeat Tulane's Chase Schupp,6-2, 6-1, for his consolation semis spot. Both consolation semis will be played at 12:30 p.m., Saturday. Voges will face Illinois' Vuk Budic, while Story faces Notre Dame's Conor Somers.

September 22-24, 2017
Crimson Tide Four-In-The-Fall
Crimson Singles Flight
(Round 1)
Jose Gracia (FSU) def. Daniel Rayl (ND), 6-1, 6-2
Jan Pallares (MEM) def. Caleb Chakravarthi (ILL), 6-3, 3-6, 6-1
Jochen Bertsch (OU) def. Oscar Janglin (RICE), 6-3, 6-3
Tim Reutzel (TUL) def. Alexey Nesterov (BAMA), 6-4, 6-3
Florian Broska (MSU) def. Paul Gota (ND), 6-3, 7-6 (5)
Eric Rutledge (RICE) def. Chase Wood (FSU), 7-6 (5), 6-2
Ferran Calvo (OU) def. Zhe Zhou (BAMA), 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-1
Terrell Whitehurst (FSU) def. Kai Lemke (MEM), 6-3, 2-6, 6-4

(Round 2)
Jose Gracia (FSU) def. Jan Pallares (MEM), 7-6 (2), 6-3
Alexey Nesterov (BAMA) def. Oscar Janglin (RICE), 6-1, 1-6, 7-5
Paul Gota (ND) def. Chase Wood (FSU), 3-6, 6-4, 6-1
Florian Broska (MSU) def. Eric Rutledge (RICE), 6-3, 6-3
Daniel Rayl (ND) def. Caleb Chakravarthi (ILL), 6-3, 5-7, 6-3
Tim Reutzel (TUL) def. Jochen Bertsch (OU), 6-3, 6-7 (5), 7-5
Kai Lemke (MEM) def. Zhe Zhou (BAMA), 7-6 (6), 6-4
Ferran Calvo (OU) def. Terrell Whitehurst (FSU), 6-2, 2-6, 6-2

Houndstooth Singles Flight
(Round 1)
James Davis (OU) def. Grant Stuckey (BAMA), 6-0, 6-0
Edson Ortiz (BAMA) def. Turner Voges (MEM), 6-2, 6-1
Terrance Whitehurst (FSU) def. Vuk Budic (ILL), 6-4, 6-1
Nathan Griffin (ND) def. Jacob Eskeland (RICE), 6-3, 6-2
Eric Wagner (TUL) def. Sam Fischer (BAMA), 6-1, 6-3
Jake Van Emburgh (OU) def. Conor Somers (ND), 6-2, 6-3
Trevor Foshey (MSU) def. Matt Story (MEM), 6-4, 7-6 (7)
Mohamed Abdel-Aziz (RICE) def. Chase Schupp (TUL), 4-6, 7-5, 6-3

(Round 2)
Vuk Budic (ILL) def. Grant Stuckey (ALA), 6-2, 6-2
James Davis (OU) def. Terrance Whiteside (FSU), 6-4, 6-4
Edson Ortiz (BAMA) def. Nathan Griffin (ND), 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4
Jake Van Emburgh (OU) def. Eric Wagner (TUL), 6-1, 6-3
Conor Somers (ND) def. Sam Fischer (BAMA), 6-3, 6-4
Trevor Foshey (MSU) def. Mohamed Abdel-Aziz (RICE), 6-3, 6-1

Former Tigers Facing One Another in Columbus Challenger
Former Tigers Dave O'Hare and Joe Salisbury are fighting for a doubles final spot in the ATP Columbus Challenger. The problem for Tiger fans will be who to cheer for as O'Hare is teamed with Luke Bambridge, while Salisbury is teamed with Brydan Klein. The two former teammates are seeded two and three in the event and are playing for the right to face unseeded Dominik Koepfer (a name familiar to Tiger fans as he played college tennis at Tulane) and Denis Kudla in the finals. Koepfer and Kudla took out the top seed in the draw in the second round. That match will be played Saturday at 10 a.m. (CT) and ATP Challenger events live stream most of their events at http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/atp-challenger-tour.