University of Washington
ITA All-American Championships
Nedunchezhiyan Makes All-American Main Draws
October 06, 2010 | Men's Tennis
Oct. 6, 2010
All-American Tournament Central
TULSA, Okla. - Husky senior Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan moved on into the main draw at the ITA All-American Championships today in singles with a hard-fought win in the final qualifying round. He then went back on court to team with sophomore Kyle McMorrow and make the main doubles draw as well.
The All-American Championships are the first of three major individual tournaments on the college tennis calendar. The fields at the University of Tulsa are by far the largest of the three, with four rounds of pre-qualifying feeding into a qualifying draw with three more rounds to reach the main draw of 64 singles players and 32 doubles teams.
Nedunchezhiyan, seeded ninth in qualifying, held off talented Duke freshman Chris Mengel, who went through pre-qualifying then won twice more in qualifying to get to today. Nedunchezhiyan took the first set, 6-3, but Mengel forced a second-set tiebreak and won it, 7-5, to force a third. Nedunchezhiyan went up an early break, and held a 4-1 lead, but Mengel came back to get even at 4-4. After holding his next serve, Nedunchezhiyan took the next game to deuce and on his first match point, he won a furious rally with his trademark speed when Mengel finally misfired.
McMorrow, also playing today for a spot in the main draw, was unable to post his second upset in as many days, dropping a tough 6-4, 6-4 match to 50th-ranked Sebastian Fanselow of Pepperdine. The Pac-10 Freshman of the Year last season, McMorrow beat 78th-ranked Sebastian Carlsson of LSU on Tuesday.
The Husky duo then returned to face Devin McCarthy and Balazs Novak of Ohio State, ranked 42nd nationally, for a spot in the 32-team doubles main draw. McMorrow and Nedunchezhiyan won 8-4 to advance. In Thursday's main draw first round, they will take on the third-ranked tandem of Drew Courtney and Michael Shabaz of Virginia.
Nedunchezhiyan will take on 28th-ranked John Peers of Baylor in Thursday's main draw first round, beginning at 9:30 a.m. Pacific time. He would also play his second round singles match on Thursday should he win.
Washington Men's Tennis
ITA All-American Championships
October 6, 2010
Tulsa, Okla. - Michael D. Case Tennis Center
Qualifying Singles
Third Round - Winner To Main Draw
(54) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (UW) def. Chris Mengel (Duke), 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-4
(50) Sebastian Fanselow (Pep) def. (119) Kyle McMorrow (UW), 6-4, 6-4
Qualifying Doubles
Third Round - Winner To Main Draw
(25) Nedunchezhiyan/McMorrow (UW) def. (42) McCarthy/Novak (OSU), 8-4
Players Mentioned
