Fox and Haley One Win Away From Qualifying for Main Draw at ITA Regionals
    Doubles Action To Begin on Friday
    Rob Fox

    Rob Fox

    Oct. 15, 2009

    ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Rob Fox and John Haley both won two matches in the qualifying singles draw at the Wilson/ITA Midwest Regional Championships on Thursday at the University of Michigan's Varsity Tennis Courts.

    The duo now needs to win one more match to advance to the main singles draw this weekend.

    "We are very excited to have two guys playing tomorrow to get into the main draw," head coach Brian Etzkin said. "Rob continues to play great tennis this fall and John is beginning to close matches on a strong note. He is turning close matches into victories which is a great sign to see."

    Fox opened the event with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Detroit's Russ Kovar before defeating Simon Blomberg of Western Michigan in the second round. He will face UIC's Dave Robare tomorrow for a slot in the main draw.

    Haley began the tournament with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Green Bay's Josh Oothoudt before topping Toledo's Leonardo Henriquez in the second round. That set up a match with Matej Zlatkovic of Illinois State tomorrow with the winner advancing to the main draw.

    "We already have two players (Phil Orno and Ryan Hamning) in the main draw and are excited about the possibility of having two more join them," Etzkin said. "We know it won't be easy because both Rob and John will be facing tough opponents tomorrow, so hopefully they will go out and just play their games."

    Chris Klepatz was the only other Viking to win a qualifying singles match today, defeating IPFW's Junya Saruta, 6-3, 6-1, in the opening round. However, he dropped a tough 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (1) decision to Austin Brooks of Michigan State in the second round.

    "Chris had a great win in the first round and an unfortunate loss in the second round," Etzkin said. "He did a good job of coming back in the second set to force a tiebreaker and give him a shot to win the match."

     

     

    Yannick Goossens and Jay Jones both lost their first round matches in qualifying singles.

    The second day of the event is slated for Friday (Oct. 16) with the final round of singles qualifying, as well as the first round of the main draw singles and doubles. CSU has three teams in the doubles draw, including Hamning and Orno, Goossens and Klepatz and Fox and Haley.

    Check the Tournament Central website throughout the weekend for updated brackets, court cams, live stats and more at http://www.mgoblue.com/sports/m-tennis/spec-rel/101409aab.html

    CSU RESULTS
    Qualifying Singles First Round
    Chris Klepatz (CSU) d. Junya Saruta (IPFW), 6-3, 6-1
    John Haley (CSU) d. Josh Oothoudt (UWGB), 6-2, 6-1
    Rob Fox (CSU) d. Russ Kovar (UDM), 6-2, 6-1
    Skip Span (Ill. St.) d. Jay Jones (CSU), 6-0, 6-2

    Qualifying Singles Second Round
    Austin Brooks (MSU) d. Chris Klepatz (CSU), 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (1)
    John Haley (CSU) d. Leonardo Henriques (Toledo), 7-6 (2), 6-2
    Michael Hobson (Ill. St.) d. Yannick Goossens (CSU), 6-4, 6-1
    Rob Fox (CSU) d. Simon Blomberg (WMU), 6-2, 6-2