Oct. 20, 2011
AUBURN - Junior Michael Wardell won a pair of matches Thursday, and four other Tigers contributed singles victories to lead the Auburn men's tennis team on the opening day of the USTA/ITA Southern Regional Championships at Auburn's Yarbrough Tennis Center.
"It was a fairly good day for us overall," Auburn head coach Eric Shore said. "(The result) was disappointing in the last match with Dan, but I know he'll come back tomorrow and play better. We're going to have to step it up overall tomorrow, there will be a lot of tough matches."
Wardell earned a straight-sets victory over Tulane's Coby Kramer-Golinkoff, 6-2, 6-1, then came back a few hours later in the second round to defeat Damian Despetovski of Nicholls State, 6-2, 1-6, 6-3.
Junior Lucas Lopasso got things rolling for the Tigers in the second round, defeating Nicholls State's Dimitry Kozionov in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3. Sophomore Dennis Lengsfeld, the nation's 54th-ranked player, then took down Tulane's Adam Bernstein with a 6-2, 7-5 win.
Senior and 57th-ranked Alex Stamchev advanced to the third round with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Alabama's Carlos Taborga, and 70th-ranked Andreas Mies defeated Ole Miss' Adrian Skogeng, 6-0, 6-4.
Two Tigers dropped their opening matches and will play in the consolation bracket beginning Friday. Sophomore Rafael Rondino dropped a 6-1, 6-0 decision to 73rd-ranked James Chaudry of Mississippi State, then sophomore Daniel Cochrane fell in the day's final match to Alabama's Stuart Kenyon, losing a hard-fought, three-set decision, 1-6, 6-4, 7-5.
The third round of singles play and the second round of doubles play gets underway Friday. Singles play in both the main and consolation draws begins at 8:30 a.m. with main draw matches played at the Yarbrough Tennis Center and the consolation taking place at the AU intramural courts. Doubles action is slated to begin at 4:30 p.m. at the Yarbrough Tennis Center with all seven Auburn players in action.
AUBURN RESULTS
USTA/ITA Southern Regional - Yarbrough Tennis Center - Auburn, Ala.
October 20, 2011
Singles Main Draw - First Round
Michael Wardell (AU) def. Coby Kramer-Golinkoff (Tulane), 6-2, 6-1
Singles Main Draw - Second Round
Lucas Lopasso (AU) def. Dimitry Kozionov (Nicholls St.), 6-4, 6-3
#54 Dennis Lengsfeld (AU) def. Adam Bernstein (Tulane), 6-2, 7-5
Michael Wardell (AU) def. Damian Despetovski (Nicholls St.), 6-2, 1-6, 6-3
#73 James Chaudry (MSU) def. Rafael Rondino (AU), 6-1, 6-0
#57 Alex Stamchev (AU) def. Carlos Taborga (UA), 6-4, 6-4
#70 Andreas Mies (AU) def. Adrian Skogeng (OM), 6-0, 6-4
Stuart Kenyon (UA) def. Daniel Cochrane (AU), 1-6, 6-4, 7-5