Senior Gabriel Carvajal (Pembroke Pines, Fla. / Broward Virtual School [Florida Atlantic]) picked up a pair of victories on Thursday, cementing his place in the third round of Friday’s qualifying draw. That highlighted the first day of action for a well-represented Valparaiso University men’s tennis team at the ITA Midwest Regional, hosted by Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio.
How It Happened
- Carvajal started his strong day by cruising past Daniel Hernandez of Eastern Illinois 6-1, 6-0. He followed that with another one-sided victory in Round 2, beating UIC’s William Wale 6-2, 6-1.
- Freshman Philipp Leithold (Esslingen, Germany / Theodor-Huess Gymnasium) also secured a first-round triumph, topping Mike Jansen of Eastern Illinois in straight sets with a 6-3, 6-4 win. Leithold ran into DePaul’s Luuk Wassener in Round 2 and saw his regional singles run come to an end with a three-set loss, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.
- Freshman Oscar Mendoza (Guayaquil, Ecuador / Interamerican Academy) dropped his first-round match to UIC’s Kasper Parlklo 6-2, 7-5.
- Freshman Andrej Kalenic (Belgrade, Serbia / Kreativno Pero) was on the wrong end of a 6-3, 6-4 decision against Arjun Honnappa of Western Michigan in Round 1.
- Senior Daniel Langston (Ponca City, Okla. / Ponca City) took Diego Le Gal Perez of Illinois State to three sets by winning the second but eventually fell 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.
- Senior Franklin Brozovich (Fort Gratiot, Mich. / Port Huron Northern) also battled back after losing his first set to force a third but dropped his match with Michigan’s Teddy Oosterbaan 6-3, 4-6, 6-0.
Up Next
The third round of the singles qualifying draw will begin at 7 a.m. CT on Friday as Carvajal tries to earn his way into the main draw. That will be followed by the first three rounds of main-draw doubles. Carvajal will attempt to join seniors Brandon Ancona (Belvidere, Ill. / Rockford Christian) and Brian Pecyna (Glen Ellyn, Ill. / Homeschooled), who earned automatic berths into the singles main draw.
