COSTA MESA, Calif. — Two-time All-American Neal Skupski overcomes a shaky start against Masayoshi Ono to win his second in a row at the USTA Futures Qualifier Tournament in Costa Mesa, Calif.
Skupski, ranked No. 31, fell behind early, but was able to come back and claim the first set 6-3. Skupski picked up pace and successfully knocked off Ono 6-4 to end the match.
“Neal had a shaky start, but picked up his game to come out with an impressive victory,” assistant coach Danny Bryan said. “With two consecutive wins under his belt, I look forward to watching him play tomorrow.”
Senior Mark Bowtell took down UCLA standout Alex Brigham in the first set 7-5, but could not continue the momentum losing 6-4, 6-3, in the last two sets.
“Mark had a lot of great moments today, but he was not able to stay consistent,” Bryan said. “As the season goes on, we hope to see him grow in this area and improve as an elite competitor.”
After an overall successful day, the Tigers look to continue competitive play tomorrow. The schedule has not yet been announced.
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