Qualifies for next month's ITA National Intercollegiate Indoors

Hong Kong Davis Cupper, Brian Hung, currently attending the University of Michigan on a tennis scholarship, went all the way to the final of the 2004 Wilson/ITA Midwest Regional Championships before falling to No. 2 seed and NCAA No. 95, Ryler DeHeart of Illinois, 6-3, 6-4. By virtue of his runner-up finish, Brian automatically gains a maindraw berth for next month's ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships.

Seeded 12th, Brian defeated top seed and NCAA No. 23 Jakub Praibis of Indiana, 6-4, 6-0, in the quarters. It was Michigan's first appearance in the ITA Regional singles final in more than a decade.

This year's tournament at Michigan fittingly marks the 15th anniversary of former Wolverine MaliVai Washington's men's singles title. Washington, a 1996 Wimbledon finalist and current ESPN tennis analyst, beat teammate Dan Goldberg in the 1989 final.

In his rookie season at Michigan last year, Brian led his team in overall singles wins (22), dual match victories (15) and regional wins (17), and owned a 15-6 dual match record at the No. 2 and No. 3 spot in Michigan's singles line-up. As a freshman, the former Hong Kong under-18 number one was also granted the University of Michigan Athletic Academic Achievement Award for his efforts on the tennis court as well as in the classroom.

First held in 1978 for the men and 1984 for the women, the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships is the second of three national championships during the 2004-05 collegiate tennis season, with the other two being the ITA All-American Championships and the NCAA Championships. Current touring pros James Blake (Harvard), Laura Granville (Stanford), Marissa Irvin (Stanford), Jeff Morrison (Florida), Lisa Raymond (Florida), not to mention the now-retired Todd Martin (Northwestern), were all one-time or another, prominent participants of the prestigious ITA National Indoors.

Scheduled for November 4-7 at Michigan's Varsity Tennis Center, this is the second year in running that Michigan is hosting the prestigious event. As host, the university automatically receives one singles and one doubles wildcard entry for both men and women. Brian joins team mate, senior Michael Rubin (NCAA No. 33) in singles, while Ryan Heller and himself were chosen by head coach Bruce Berque to compete in the doubles. Brian also represented Michigan in the doubles last year as a freshman.

Coach Berque was obviously delighted now that Michigan will have two representatives in the 64-man field but has stressed that it is no time for complacency as there is much work to do if Michigan is to overtake traditional conference powerhouses Illinois and Ohio State anytime soon.

Berque joined Michigan from defending NCAA champions, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he had been the associate head men's coach under Greg Tiley for the past five years. During his tenure, Illinois captured four NCAA championships (one team, one singles and two doubles), two National Indoor team championships (2003-04), six Big Ten Conference crowns and an NCAA-record 64 consecutive dual match win streak. Tiley and Berque brought Illinois its first-ever No. 1 ITA national ranking in 2002.

Following the 2002-03 campaign, which saw Illinois go undefeated at 32-0 while claiming the NCAA and National Indoor team titles, Berque was honoured as the ITA National Assistant Coach of the Year. He was also a two-time ITA Midwest Regional Assistant Coach of the Year recipient (2000, 2003).

"I think I've improved a lot since Bruce (Berque) has been here. I'm just trying to improve my game right now and trying to play more all-court. I think it's working well. I'm still trying to keep playing my game, working on the slice, the charge and also the serve. Everything is more professional now and we have very strict routines here. It's really helped me out and I like it a lot," says Brian.

Brian added, "But the guys at the National Indoors are all going to be tough. They're the best from every region. I'm just going to try my best and keep improving. I've got nothing to lose."

The 19-year-old received his first NCAA ranking of No. 94 when the pre-season list was announced earlier last month.

The majority of the top-ranking collegiate players will be at the ITA National Indoors, including No. 1 Catalin Gard of Mississippi, No. 2 Sam Warburg of Standford, and No. 3 Jesse Witten of Kentucky, No. 8 Pedro Rico of Pepperdine, No. 13 Mark Van Elden of Oklahoma State, No. 14 Alex Slovic of Washington, and No. 23 Jakub Praibis of Indiana.

Results
2004 Wilson/ITA Midwest Regional Championships
University of Michigan Varsity Tennis Center, Ann Arbor
October 21-26, 2004

MEN'S SINGLES

Final
(2)Ryler DeHeart (Illinois) d. (12)Brian Hung (Michigan) 6-3 6-4

Semifinals
(12)Brian Hung (Michigan) d. (15)Stephen Bass (Notre Dame) 6-4 7-6(3)

Quarterfinals
(12)Brian Hung (Michigan) d. (1)Jakub Praibis (Indiana) 6-4 6-0

Third Round
(12)Brian Hung (Michigan) d. Barry King (Notre Dame) 6-2 6-4

Second Round
(12)Brian Hung (Michigan) d. Adam Monich (Michigan State) 6-2 6-3

First Round
(12)Brian Hung (Michigan) d. Johnny Berrido (Louisville) 6-3 6-2

MEN'S DOUBLES

Quarterfinals
(16)Ross Wilson/Drew Eberly (Ohio State) d. (10)Brian Hung/Ryan Heller (Michigan) 8-1

Third Round
(10)Brian Hung/Ryan Heller (Michigan) d. Ryan Recht/John Stone (Indiana) 8-6

Second Round
(10)Brian Hung/Ryan Heller (Michigan) d. Michael Flowers/Adam Monich (Michigan State) 8-3

First Round
(10)Brian Hung/Ryan Heller (Michigan) d. Nick Edlefsen/Chi Pham (Minnesota) 8-2

Sources:
www.itatennis.com
www.mgoblue.com
www.collegetennisonline.com
Photo courtesy of mgoblue.com