Michigan
All-American Main Draw (Day 1)
Hung and Maravic Earn First-Round Win at All-American
10/5/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
TULSA, Okla. -- Senior Brian Hung (Hong Kong, China/Sagemont Virtual School) and junior Matko Maravic (Zagreb, Croatia/V. Gimnazija) of the University of Michigan men's tennis team earned a convincing victory in the first round of the doubles main draw at the 2006 Polo Ralph Lauren All-American Championships on Thursday (Oct. 5) at Tulsa's Michael D. Case Tennis Center. Hung and Maravic teamed up for the first-round win after each suffered an early exit in the singles main draw earlier in the day.
Hung and Maravic, the No. 5-ranked doubles team in the nation, were simply no match for Mississippi's No. 22-ranked pair of Jakob Klaeson and Robbye Poole in the opening round of the 32-team bracket. After each team held serve to begin the match, the Wolverine tandem proceeded to take seven of the next eight games en route to an 8-2 triumph.
Hung and Maravic will take on Tulsa's No. 48-ranked Arnau Brugues and Federico Soriano in the round of 16 tomorrow (Friday, Oct. 6) at 3 p.m. CDT.
Maravic had a spectacular start in the 64-player singles draw, as he upset Louisiana State's No. 12-ranked Ken Skupski by a score of 7-6(1), 6-2. It marked the second time in Maravic's career that he has knocked off Skupski, as he earned a 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 victory during dual match play as a freshman (March 20, 2005).
The 25th-ranked Maravic pulled out a gutsy tiebreaker win in the first set of his second- round match against UCLA's No. 66-ranked Chris Surapol. Unfortunately the 7-6(8) win came with a price, as Maravic pulled up lame with a sore hamstring near the end of the tiebreaker. He continued to play on, losing the second set (6-0) before retiring down 2-0 in the third set.
Hung, who advanced to the main draw after earning three qualifying victories earlier in the week, lost in straight sets (6-2, 6-3) to No. 34-ranked Arvid Puranen of Virginia Tech in the first round. Hung then dropped a 6-2, 6-0 decision to Duke's No. 44-ranked Peter Rodrigues in the first round of consolation play later in the afternoon.
Following are match-by-match results:
Brian Hung
First Round -- l. #34 Arvid Puranen (Virginia Tech), 6-2, 6-3
Consolation First Round -- l. #44 Peter Rodrigues (Duke), 6-2, 6-0
Finished with a 0-2 record
Matko Maravic
First Round -- d. #12 Ken Skupski (Louisiana State), 7-6(1), 6-2
Second Round -- l. #66 Chris Surapol (UCLA), 6-7(8), 6-0, 2-0 ret.
Finished with a 1-1 record
Brian Hung/Matko Maravic
First Round -- d. #22 Jakob Klaeson/Robbye Poole (Mississippi), 8-2
Second Round (Friday, 3 p.m. CDT) -- vs. #48 Arnau Brugues/Federico Soriano (Tulsa)
Q U O T E S
U-M Assistant Coach Sean Maymi
On Brian Hung and Matko Maravic's play in doubles... "They played very high percentage tennis and were much better than the other team from start to finish. They brought a lot more energy. They got on the court late, so the guys had to sit around and wait. But Brian and Matko did a good job of coming out fired up and just took it to them."
On Matko Maravic's hamstring injury in the second round... "He played a great first set, winning a great breaker before pulling his hamstring. He actually pulled it in the tiebreaker, and then labored halfway through the second set before a trainer came out. After awhile he felt like he couldn't continue on."
On Matko Maravic's first-round win over Ken Skupski... "Matko played a very good match against Ken. He played very solid and smart, plus he had a really good game plan going into the match because he had played him before. He knew what to expect and he pretty much did what he needed to do. It was great because he hadn't played a match yet this year. I was pleased to see him competing and executing quite well."
On Brian Hung's play in singles... "Brian had a tough opponent in the first round. The guy came out hot and it was tough to catch up. I felt like Brian never quite got on track. But he picked up three good wins (in qualifying) this week, which we were really happy with."
Contact: Marc Ressler (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
