Michigan
Miami Invitational
Michigan Concludes Play at Miami Invitational
1/15/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
CORAL GABLES, Fla. -- The University of Michigan men's tennis team put forth a strong showing at the 2007 Miami Invitational, held Saturday and Sunday (Jan. 13-14) at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center. In their final tune-up before the dual match season begins, the Wolverines earned overall records of 9-7 in singles and 6-2 in doubles against players from Duke, Miami (Fla.) and Texas -- all of which are ranked in the top 12 of the first edition of the Fila Collegiate Tennis Rankings. U-M also split a pair of singles matches against Alabama during the weekend. The Maize and Blue was scheduled to play singles against the Longhorns and doubles against the host Hurricanes on Monday (Jan. 15) but the tournament was cut short due to rain.
Three Wolverines went undefeated in their respective singles matches. Senior Brian Hung (Hong Kong, China/Sagemont Virtual School), ranked 59th in the nation, posted a quick 6-2, 6-2 win over Miami's Daniel Vallverdu on Saturday before knocking off Duke's 80th-ranked Peter Rodrigues by a score of 7-6(3), 6-0 on Sunday. Freshman George Navas (Tampa, Fla./Tampa Preparatory School) was able to outlast Miami's Hector Nieto by a 7-6(5), 6-7(3), 6-3 margin on the opening day before taking two sets to defeat Duke's Alex Stone, 6-3, 7-6(3) on the final day. Freshman Mike Sroczynski (Chatham, N.J./Laurel Springs School) earned a pair of three-set victories at the tournament, battling his way to a 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 triumph over Alabama's Saketh Myneni before coming back to beat Duke's Ned Samuelson in a super-tiebreaker, 4-6, 6-4, 1-0(6).
Senior Steve Peretz (Brooklyn, N.Y./The Dwight School) and sophomores Peter Aarts (Pound Ridge, N.Y./Fox Lane HS), Scott Bruckmann (Sarasota, Fla./Saint Stephen's Episcopal School) and Andrew Mazlin (Altamonte Springs, Fla./Lyman HS) each earned one singles win over the weekend. Peretz battled back to defeat Miami's Barnabas Carrega, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3. Aarts was too much for Miami's J.C. Whitner, 6-1, 6-4. Bruckmann followed suit with a 7-6(1), 6-2 decision over Miami's Westin Wendt. Mazlin picked up his first career win against a nationally-ranked opponent, a 6-3, 6-4 triumph over Duke's No. 84-ranked Dylan Arnould.
Michigan's top doubles team of Hung and junior Matko Maravic (Zagreb, Croatia/V. Gimnazija) continued to live up to its No. 2 national ranking, posting a pair of decisive victories at the tournament. Saturday's action saw Hung and Maravic easily defeat Duke's No. 4-ranked tandem of Joey Atas and David Goulet by a score of 8-3. The Wolverine duo then blew past Texas' Milan Mihailovic and Miguel Reyes Varela, 8-1, on Sunday. Hung and Maravic enter their final dual match season together with a team-best 8-2 record.
Navas and Sroczynski also went 2-0 in their doubles matches, defeating Duke's Samuelson and Kiril Dimitrov (8-3) and Texas' Bernhard Deussner and Jonah Kane-West (8-4).
The Wolverines open the dual match season by hosting a doubleheader at the Varsity Tennis Center on Saturday (Jan. 20). Michigan will open with a meeting against Marquette at 10 a.m. before ending the day with a match against Butler at 6 p.m.
Contact: Marc Ressler (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
