Oklahoma State University Athletics
Three Cowboys Advance To Second Round of Qualifying In Tulsa
October 03, 2016 | Cowboy Tennis
TULSA, Okla. – Oklahoma State men's tennis will have three Cowboys take part in the second round of singles qualifying play at the Saint Francis Health System ITA Men's All-American Championships on Tuesday as Lukas Finzelberg, Lucas Gerch and Arjun Kadhe all won their opening-round contests to advance in the tournament.
Gerch, ranked No. 97 by the ITA, was the first Cowboy to step onto the court on Monday as he squared off with North Carolina's Jack Murray in one of the day's opening matches.
The Cowboy found himself trailing right away in his first match of this season as he dropped the first set to Murray, 6-3. From there though Gerch was able to get his legs underneath him and battle back into the match, taking the second set easily to tie the match at one set apiece. Gerch continued to carry his momentum through the decisive third set as he knocked off Murray, 3-6, 6-2, 6-1, and secure his spot in Tuesday's second round.
Gerch's success was replicated by his fellow German international, Lukas Finzelberg, as Finzelberg too was able to rally from being down one set in his matchup with Wichita State's Haru Inoue.
It was a back-and-forth matchup between Finzelberg and Inoue in the first two sets with each competitor winning one by a score of 6-4. Finzelberg was able to grab control of the match early on in the third set as he was able to grit out the win, defeating Inoue, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1.
The Cowboy's third victory in singles action came from Kadhe as the nation's No. 87-ranked player topped Old Dominion's Michael Weindl in a three-set thriller, 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (5). Kadhe will square off with Minnesota's Felix Corwin in Tuesday's second round, while Gerch will take on No. 86 Kai Lemke of Memphis in a matchup of top-100 ranked players and Finzleberg goes head-to-head with Big 12-rival Texas' Harrison Scott, who enters the event ranked No. 71 by the ITA.
In doubles competition, OSU fielded two teams in Monday's qualifying action.
The No. 52-ranked pairing of Gerch and Jurence Mendoza rolled their way through both of their matchups on Monday, first knocking off Michael Genender and Sameer Kumar of Stanford, 7-6 (1), 6-2, before being knocked off by Memphis' Ryan Peniston and Andrew Watson in three sets.
Gerch and Mendoza are the second-highest ranked OSU doubles tandem, with the only Cowboy tandem holding a better spot in the ITA Rankings being the top-ranked duo of Julian Cash and Arjun Kadhe. Cash and Kadhe are the top-overall seed at the ITA All-American Championships and will compete in the main draw, which is slated to begin on Thursday.
Finzelberg and freshman Mathieu Scaglia were the second Cowboy tandem to wrap up play as the duo dropped a hard-fought contest with Baylor's Constantin Frantzen and Max Tchoutakian in their first match together.
Tuesday's action will consist of two more rounds of singles qualifying play before the players get a day off on Wednesday, which will be followed by the opening-round matches of the main draw beginning on Thursday.
Fans can follow all of the tomorrow qualifying action via live stream (streamingtennis.com/Tulsa/), although no live scoring is available. For updates throughout the day, follow @CowboyTennis on Twitter.
Oklahoma State Results
Qualifying Singles First Round:
No. 98 Lucas Gerch (OSU) def. No. 102 Jack Murray (UNC), 3-6, 6-2, 6-1
Lukas Finzelberg (OSU) def. Haru Inoue (WSU), 4-6, 6-4, 6-1
No. 87 Arjun Kadhe (OSU) def. Michael Weindl (ODU), 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (5)
No. 81 Walker Duncan (UGA) def. No. 97 Jurence Mendoza, 6-4, 6-3
No. 105 Thomas Laurent (ORE) def. Tristan Meraut (OSU), 6-1, 6-0
Qualifying Doubles First Round:
No. 52 Lucas Gerch/Jurence Mendoza def. Michael Genender/Sameer Kumar (STAN), 7-6 (1), 6-2
Constantin Frantzen/Max Tchoutakian (BAY) def. Lukas Finzelberg/Mathieu Scaglia (OSU), 7-6 (2), 6-2
Qualifying Doubles Second Round:
Ryan Peniston/Andrew Watson (MEM) def. No. 52 Lucas Gerch/Jurence Mendoza, 4-6, 7-5, 1-0 (8)
Gerch, ranked No. 97 by the ITA, was the first Cowboy to step onto the court on Monday as he squared off with North Carolina's Jack Murray in one of the day's opening matches.
The Cowboy found himself trailing right away in his first match of this season as he dropped the first set to Murray, 6-3. From there though Gerch was able to get his legs underneath him and battle back into the match, taking the second set easily to tie the match at one set apiece. Gerch continued to carry his momentum through the decisive third set as he knocked off Murray, 3-6, 6-2, 6-1, and secure his spot in Tuesday's second round.
Gerch's success was replicated by his fellow German international, Lukas Finzelberg, as Finzelberg too was able to rally from being down one set in his matchup with Wichita State's Haru Inoue.
It was a back-and-forth matchup between Finzelberg and Inoue in the first two sets with each competitor winning one by a score of 6-4. Finzelberg was able to grab control of the match early on in the third set as he was able to grit out the win, defeating Inoue, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1.
The Cowboy's third victory in singles action came from Kadhe as the nation's No. 87-ranked player topped Old Dominion's Michael Weindl in a three-set thriller, 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (5). Kadhe will square off with Minnesota's Felix Corwin in Tuesday's second round, while Gerch will take on No. 86 Kai Lemke of Memphis in a matchup of top-100 ranked players and Finzleberg goes head-to-head with Big 12-rival Texas' Harrison Scott, who enters the event ranked No. 71 by the ITA.
In doubles competition, OSU fielded two teams in Monday's qualifying action.
The No. 52-ranked pairing of Gerch and Jurence Mendoza rolled their way through both of their matchups on Monday, first knocking off Michael Genender and Sameer Kumar of Stanford, 7-6 (1), 6-2, before being knocked off by Memphis' Ryan Peniston and Andrew Watson in three sets.
Gerch and Mendoza are the second-highest ranked OSU doubles tandem, with the only Cowboy tandem holding a better spot in the ITA Rankings being the top-ranked duo of Julian Cash and Arjun Kadhe. Cash and Kadhe are the top-overall seed at the ITA All-American Championships and will compete in the main draw, which is slated to begin on Thursday.
Finzelberg and freshman Mathieu Scaglia were the second Cowboy tandem to wrap up play as the duo dropped a hard-fought contest with Baylor's Constantin Frantzen and Max Tchoutakian in their first match together.
Tuesday's action will consist of two more rounds of singles qualifying play before the players get a day off on Wednesday, which will be followed by the opening-round matches of the main draw beginning on Thursday.
Fans can follow all of the tomorrow qualifying action via live stream (streamingtennis.com/Tulsa/), although no live scoring is available. For updates throughout the day, follow @CowboyTennis on Twitter.
Oklahoma State Results
Qualifying Singles First Round:
No. 98 Lucas Gerch (OSU) def. No. 102 Jack Murray (UNC), 3-6, 6-2, 6-1
Lukas Finzelberg (OSU) def. Haru Inoue (WSU), 4-6, 6-4, 6-1
No. 87 Arjun Kadhe (OSU) def. Michael Weindl (ODU), 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (5)
No. 81 Walker Duncan (UGA) def. No. 97 Jurence Mendoza, 6-4, 6-3
No. 105 Thomas Laurent (ORE) def. Tristan Meraut (OSU), 6-1, 6-0
Qualifying Doubles First Round:
No. 52 Lucas Gerch/Jurence Mendoza def. Michael Genender/Sameer Kumar (STAN), 7-6 (1), 6-2
Constantin Frantzen/Max Tchoutakian (BAY) def. Lukas Finzelberg/Mathieu Scaglia (OSU), 7-6 (2), 6-2
Qualifying Doubles Second Round:
Ryan Peniston/Andrew Watson (MEM) def. No. 52 Lucas Gerch/Jurence Mendoza, 4-6, 7-5, 1-0 (8)
Players Mentioned
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