At the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships, University of Michigan wildcard entry, sophomores Brian Hung and Ryan Heller, upset No. 3 seeds and defending champion Jason Zimmermann and Ludovic Walter of Duke in the opening round, 10-8, on Thursday to advance to the quarterfinals. The following day on Friday, the Michigan pair saw off North Carolina's 32nd ranked tandem of Geoff Boyd and Brad Pomeroy, 8-2, to earn themselves a semifinal spot. They will face No. 2 seed Sam Warburg and KC Corkery of Stanford on Saturday morning (Eastern Standard Time) for a place in the finals.
According to Michigan's varsity website mgoblue.com, it was the school's first appearance in the men's doubles quarterfinals or beyond at the ITA National Indoors since 1979.
Though seeded two at the ITA National Indoors, Stanford's Warburg and Corkery are the No. 1 ranked doubles team among all universities in the US at present – they are also the defending NCAA men's doubles champions. Top seed Scott Green and Ross Wilson of Ohio State are the reigning All-American men's doubles champions.
Notable former finalists at the ITA National Indoors include Brad Gilbert of Pepperdine (singles finalist, 1982); Ken Flach and Robert Seguso of SIU-Edwardsville (doubles finalists, 1983); Paul Annacone of Tennessee (singles champion & doubles finalists, 1984); Mikael Pernfors of Georgia (singles finalist, 1985); Luke Jensen of USC (singles & doubles champion, 1987); MaliVai Washington of Michigan (singles champion, 1989); Todd Martin of Northwestern (singles champion, 1990); and Hong Kong's very own Sven Koehler of Duke (doubles finalist, 1997).
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.
Quote from Michigan Assistant Coach and former touring pro, Michael Kosta: "I think everyone is pretty pumped. We're not treating this as the biggest thing ever because I think that we've come to expect better things of ourselves. Everyone is excited and it sends a great message to the team and the entire program that we're as good as anybody else. I don't want to say that we expect this from them, because it's a pretty high standard, but I certainly think that they're one of the better doubles teams in the country. It's a great start for us but we've got to keep things going."
Earlier, Brian lost a tough three-setter to 5-8th seed Izak Van Der Merwe of Old Dominion when he took the first set against the nation's No. 9 ranked singles player in a breaker, 7-4, but could not sustain the momentum as the seeded player stormed back to take the final two sets, 6-4, 6-2.
Results
ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships
Varsity Tennis Center, Ann Arbor, Michigan
November 4-7, 2004
Men's Doubles - Quarterfinals
Jason Beren/Martin Wetzel (Harvard) d. Lars Poerschke/Martija Zgaga (Baylor) 8-6
(1)Scott Green/Ross Wilson (Ohio State) d. Rafael Abreu/Fabrizo Sestini (TCU) 9-8(6)
Brian Hung/Ryan Heller (Michigan) d. Geoff Boyd/Brad Pomeroy (North Carolina) 8-2
(2)KC Corkery/Sam Warburg (Stanford) d. Ryler DeHeart/GD Jones (Illinois) 8-4
Men's Singles - First Round
(5-8)Izak Van Der Merwe (Old Dominion) d. Brian Hung (Michigan) 6-7(2) 6-4 6-2
Men's Singles Consolation - First Round
Marek Velicka (Oklahoma) d. Brian Hung (Michigan) 6-3 6-2
Photo courtesy of mgoblue gallery
Source:
www.itatennis.com
www.mgoblue.com
www.collegetennisonline.com