TULSA, Okla. – Two Florida men’s tennis team members scored first-round singles victories in qualifying at the ITA/D’Novo ITA All-American Championships hosted by the University of Tulsa. Players must win three qualifying matches over the span of three days to reach the 64-player main draw, which begins play Thursday.
Junior Nassim Slilam scored a 6-0, 6-0 victory against Notre Dame’s Daniel Stahl Monday morning, the first double-bagel by a Florida player since Alexandre Lacroix posted one against USF’s Wael Kilani on Sept. 25, 2009. Slilam will face Nebraska’s Benedikt Lindheim in the second round of qualifying on Tuesday.
Later in the day, sophomore Sekou Bangoura Jr. posted a three-set victory over Rafael Garcia of Texas Tech, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4. Bangoura is scheduled to face the 128-player draw’s No. 2 seed, SMU’s Artem Baradach, in second-round action on Tuesday.
The 64-team doubles qualifying draw will also begin play on Tuesday with Bangoura and Billy Federhofer slated to take on Nebraska’s No. 9-16 seeds Christopher Aumueller and Calin Paar. The second round of doubles qualifying will also take place on Tuesday. Doubles pairs need three wins in qualifying to reach the 32-team main draw, which also gets underway on Thursday.
On Sunday, Andrew Butz advanced through the third round of singles pre-qualifying before being eliminated from further competition. Butz posted a three-set victory over Georgia Tech’s Dean O’Brien, who was a No. 9-16 seed in the pre-qualifying rounds. However, Butz could not overcome Duke’s Chris Mengel, who posted a straight-sets victory against the UF freshman.
ITA/D’NOVO ALL AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
Pre-qualifying / University of Tulsa / Sunday, Oct. 3, 2010
SINGLES
Third round
Andrew Butz (UF) def. Dean O’Brien (Georgia Tech), 7-5, 0-6, 6-4.
Fourth round
Chris Mengel (Duke) def. Andrew Butz (UF), 7-5, 6-1.
Qualifying / University of Tulsa / Monday, Oct. 4, 2010
SINGLES
First round
Nassim Slilam (UF) def. Daniel Stahl (Notre Dame), 6-0, 6-0; Sekou Bangoura Jr. (UF) def. Rafael Garcia (Texas Tech), 6-2, 3-6, 6-4.
Second round
Tuesday second-round matches: Nassim Slilam (UF) vs. Benedikt Lindheim (Nebraska); Sekou Bangoura Jr. (UF) vs. Artem Baradach (SMU).
DOUBLES
Tuesday first-round matches: Sekou Bangoura/Billy Federhoder vs.
Bangoura/Federhofer (UF) vs. Christian Aumueller/Calin Paar (Nebraska).