Men's Tennis Recap - HEB Baylor Invitational Day 1
9/27/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Sept. 27, 2008
WACO - No. 4 seed Bruno Rosa, No. 8 seed Christoph Müller and Andy Wang each notched a pair of wins to advance to the Round of 16 in their respective singles flights as the Rice men's tennis team opened with a strong showing Friday at the HEB Baylor Invitational.
After dropping the opening set 7-5 to Oklahoma State's Nathan Byrnes, Rosa stormed back to win 12 of his next 14 games for a 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 triumph. The Brazilian took down Matt Hogan of Arkansas 6-4, 6-2 in the second round and will face No. 13 Victor Kolik of Tulsa in the A flight.
Müller joined Rosa in the A flight Round of 16 by making quick work of Texas Tech's Milos Kustudija 6-0, 6-3 before tallying a 6-3, 6-3 win over Marc Bruche of Baylor in the second round. The German takes on No. 9 seed Blake Strode of Arkansas.
Wang dismissed UTA's Gonzalo Bienzobas 6-2, 6-3 before picking up a hard-fought 7-6 (4), 6-4 victory over Cameron Nash of TCU. The Florida native squares off with ULL's Arlen Domoney in the Round of 16 in the B flight.
Dennis Polyakov also registered a singles victory for the Owls in the A flight by turning the tables on New Mexico State's Gustave Diep for a gritty 2-6, 7-5, 7-5 win before falling to No. 5 seed Conor Pollack of Texas A&M in the second round.
After falling in the opening round, Sam Garforth-Bles made his first collegiate victory a memorable one by dominating No. 7 seed Ed Corrie of Texas 6-1, 6-4 in the A singles consolation bracket.
In doubles action, Garforth-Bles teamed with Müller to make a splash by upending No. 2 seed Oleksandr Nedovyesov and Nathan Byrnes of Oklahoma State, 8-6. Another tight 8-6 triumph over Dmitry Novikov and Mike Pavlov of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi placed the Rice duo into the Round of 16 against Wisconsin's Moritz Baumann and Marek Michalicka.
Players Mentioned
