Oct. 2, 2011
Auburn men's tennis concluded its stay at the Georgia Tech Fall Invitational on Sunday afternoon in Atlanta and will begin play at the ITA Men's All-American Championship on Monday in Tulsa, Okla.
On Saturday, junior Lucas Lopasso provided the Tigers' only singles victory with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Lipscomb's Oliver Strecker in the first round of the A-Singles draw. He then dropped a 6-4, 6-4 decision to Rafael Aita of UNC-Wilmington in the round of 16.
Georgia State's Vincent Verpeaux defeated junior Michael Wardell, 6-2, 6-2, in the first round, and sophomore Rafael Rondino fell to Armstrong Atlantic's Matus Mydla, 6-1, 6-0. Rondino would then drop a 6-0, 6-2 decision to Louisville's Chris Simich in the consolation round, while Wardell would fall to Armstrong Atlantic's Daniel Regan, 6-1, 6-1.
In doubles, the team of Lopasso and Rondino won their opening match with a 4-0 (ret. inj.) victory over Juan Gutierrez and Lucas Santana of Georgia State. The Auburn duo would fall in the quarterfinals Sunday, dropping an 8-6 decision to Adan Donaldson and Chris Simich of Louisville.
At the ITA All-American Championships in Tulsa, sophomore Daniel Cochrane was awarded a spot in the qualifying draw and was not required to compete in the pre-qualifying stage over the weekend. He will face Georgia Tech's Kevin King in Monday's first round.
Other first-round matches for the Tigers include junior Andreas Mies vs. Purdue's Mark Kovacs, third-seeded Dennis Lengsfeld vs. Radford's Nicholas Sayer, and sixth-seeded Alex Stamchev facing Virginia's Steven Eelkman Rooda.
Auburn Results
Georgia Tech Fall Invitational
Singles `A' Draw
Round of 32
Vincent Verpeaux (Georgia State) def. Michael Wardell (AU), 6-2, 6-2
Matus Mylda (Armstrong Atlantic) def. Rafael Rondino (AU), 6-1, 6-0
Lucas Lopasso (AU) def. Oliver Strecker (Lipscomb), 6-3, 6-2
Round of 16
Rafael Aita (UNCW) def. Lucas Lopasso (AU), 6-4, 6-4
Consolation
Chris Simich (Louisville) def. Rafael Rondino (AU), 6-0, 6-2
Daniel Regan (Armstrong Atlantic) def. Michael Wardell (AU), 6-1, 6-1
Doubles `A' Draw
Round of 16
Lucas Lopasso/Rafael Rondino (AU) def. Juan Gutierrez/Lucas Santana (Ga. State), 4-0 (ret. inj.)
Quarterfinals
Adan Donaldson/Chris Simich (Louisville) def. Lucas Lopasso/Rafael Rondino (AU), 8-6