TULSA, Okla.— After collecting two wins in Day 1 of the pre-qualifying rounds of the ITA Men’s All-American Championships, freshman Agie Moreno and sophomore Nikola Samardzic have advanced to Sundays’ round of 64 at the Case Tennis Center.
In his collegiate debut, Moreno took a straight-set, 6-3, 6-3, victory against Utah’s Egbert Weverink. Later in the day, Moreno continued on a tear as he defeated Auburn’s Michael Durham, 7-5, 6-0 to advance to Sunday’s competition.
Samardzic also had back-to-back straight-set wins as he defeated Miami’s Jesse Flores, 6-3, 7-5 and Louisville’s No. 8 seed Christopher Kougoucheff 6-4, 6-4.
Moreno will take the court against Denver’s No. 7 seed Yannik James at 11 a.m. CT Sunday, and Samardzic will square off against Ole Miss’ Ricardo Jorge at 12 p.m. CT.
“We had a strong day to open the tournament,” assistant coach Martin Stiegwardt said. “Agie and Nikola played very well and made good decisions under pressure in their first tournament of the year,” Stiegwardt added. “It’s great to see them advancing to Sunday.”
Freshman Julian Saborio suffered a 6-3, 6-2 first-round loss against Southern California’s Henry Ji, and Rafael Wagner fell to Florida’s Jordan Belga, 6-3, 6-4.
Saborio and Wagner will compete in the pre-qualifying consolation rounds against Loyola Marymount’s Nicholas Borchenko and Columbia’s Jackie Tang, respectively, beginning at 8:30 Sunday.
“Julian and Rafael had tough first rounds, but they showed improvement from last week. They are getting more comfortable out there and competing better,” Stiegwardt added.
Senior Justin Butsch and junior Gabor Csonka will join the team for the qualifying rounds on Oct. 3, and senior Jordan Daigle is set to begin competition in the main draw on Oct. 6.
For up-to-date information and behind-the-scenes access on the Tigers, fans can follow the LSU men’s tennis team on Twitter and Instagram at @lsutennis and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/lsutennis.
2016 ITA Men’s All-American Championships
Oct. 1-2 at Tulsa, Okla. (Case Tennis Center)
Saturday, Oct. 1
Pre-Qualifying Singles Round of 256
Jordan Belga (Florida) def. Rafael Wagner (LSU), 6-3, 6-4
Agie Moreno (LSU) def. Egbert Weverink (Utah), 6-3, 6-3
Henry Ji (Southern California) def. Julian Saborio (LSU), 6-3, 6-2
Nikola Samardzic (LSU) def. Jesse Flores (Miami), 6-3, 7-5
Pre-Qualifying Singles Round of 128
Agie Moreno (LSU) def. Michael Durham (Auburn), 7-5, 6-0
Nikola Samardzic (LSU) def. Christopher Kougoucheff (Louisville), 6-4, 6-4
Sunday, Oct. 2
Pre-Qualifying Singles Round of 64
Agie Moreno (LSU) vs. Yannik James (Denver), 11 a.m. CT
Nikola Samardzic (LSU) vs. Ricardo Jorge (Ole Miss), 12 p.m. CT
Pre-Qualifying Consolation Singles
Rafael Wagner (LSU) vs. Jackie Tang (Columbia), 8 a.m. CT
Julian Saborio (LSU) vs. Nicholas Borchenko (Loyola Marymount), 12 p.m. CT