Mertz Stays Hot as Three Advance at ITA All-Americans
10/4/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
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Three members of the University of Alabama tennis team played their way into the second round of qualifying singles Monday at the Icy Hot/ITA All-American Championships in Chattanooga, Tenn.
Sophomores Joseph Jung and Luigi D’Agord and freshman Billy Mertz all won opening round matches in the qualifying singles draw on Monday.
Mertz, a pleasant surprise for Alabama, is now 9-0 on the year. He defeated Scott Doerner 6-2, 6-2 to advance. This coming after he played his way into the qualifying draw with four wins this weekend in the pre-qualifying draw.
Both Jung and D’Agord had to come from behind to win. Jung, seeded 17th, dropped the first set tie breaker to Arvid Puranen, but fought back to win the next two sets and the match. D’Agord fell behind after the first set as well to Daniel Chu. D’Agord then won the final two sets 7-5, 6-3 to take the match.
Monday’s matches were the first for Jung and D’Agord. Jung received an invitation into the qualifying draw based on his national ranking. D’Agord received a wild card berth.
Men’s Qualifying Singles-Round of 128
Billy Mertz d. Scott Doerner, 6-2, 6-2
(17) Joseph Jung d. Arvid Puranen, 6-7(2), 7-5, 6-2
(5) Andreas Silijestrom d. Eric Molnar, 6-4, 7-5
Luigi D’Agord d. Daniel Chu, 5-7, 7-5, 6-3
Men’s Qualifying Doubles-Round of 64
(9) Atas/Klingemann d. D’Agord/Molnar, 8-5
