Michigan
ITA Midwest Regional Championships
King Falls in Singles Final at ITA Midwest Regional
10/13/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Site: Columbus, Ohio (Varsity Tennis Center)
Event: USTA/ITA Midwest Regional Championships (Main Draw)
U-M Team Result: No Team Scoring
Next U-M Event: Fri-Mon, Oct. 28-31 -- at Big Ten Individual Championships (Iowa City, Iowa)
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Junior Evan King (Chicago, Ill./Kaplan HS) of the University of Michigan men's tennis team fell to Ohio State's No. 2-ranked Blaz Rola, 6-3, 6-4, in the singles final of the USTA/ITA Midwest Championships on Monday afternoon (Oct. 17) at the Buckeyes' Varsity Tennis Center.
King defeated another pair of ranked Buckeyes to advance to the championship match. He rallied past No. 5 Chase Buchanan in the semifinals, winning 12 of the final 15 games to surge to a 5-7, 6-0, 6-3 decision. It was King's first victory in two career meetings against the two-time Big Ten Athlete of the Year. In the quarterfinal round, King defeated OSU's No. 33-ranked Peter Kobelt, 7-6, 6-2.
With the runner-up performance, King improves to 10-3 on the season and has faced ranked opposition in nine of his 13 matches.
In doubles play, King and sophomore Shaun Bernstein (Plainview, N.Y./Plainview Old Bethpage JFK HS) advanced to the semifinals, where they narrowly lost to Ohio State's Buchanan and Kobelt, 8-6, to bow out with a 4-1 record. Among their victories, King and Bernstein earned back-to-back 8-4 decisions over Big Ten pairings from Michigan State and Illinois. The Wolverine duo, ranked No. 33 in the ITA preseason poll, is 7-2 record on the season.
The Wolverines will send five representatives to the Big Ten Individual Championships, scheduled for Oct. 28-31 at the Hawkeye Tennis Complex in Iowa City, Iowa.
U-M RESULTS
Qualifying Singles
Alex Buzzi
Thursday, Oct. 13 (First Round) -- d. Michael Tebon (Wisconsin Green Bay), 7-6, 6-1
Thursday, Oct. 13 (Second Round) -- d. Simon Blomberg (Western Michigan), 6-4, 4-6, 6-1
Friday, Oct. 14 (Third Round) -- d. Jorg Van der Vloet (Cleveland State), 6-4, 6-4
Eli Brown
Thursday, Oct. 13 (First Round) -- l. Ross Vanderploeg (Western Michigan), 6-1, 6-2
Saturday, Oct. 15 (Consolation) -- l. Tomas Stillman (Toledo), 3-6, 6-4, 10-3
Main Draw Singles
No. 8 Evan King
Friday, Oct. 14 (First Round) -- d. Nadin Indre (Western Michigan), 6-4, 6-2
Saturday, Oct. 15 (Second Round) -- d. Kevin Metka (Ohio State), 7-5, 6-3
Saturday, Oct. 15 (Third Round) -- d. Samuel Keeton (Notre Dame), 6-0, 7-5
Sunday, Oct. 16 (Quarterfinals) -- d. No. 33 Peter Kobelt (Ohio State), 7-6, 6-2
Monday, Oct. 17 (Semifinals) -- d. No. 5 Chase Buchanan (Ohio State), 5-7, 6-0, 6-3
Monday, Oct. 17 (Final) -- l. No. 2 Blaz Rola (Ohio State), 6-3, 6-4
No. 125 Shaun Bernstein
Friday, Oct. 14 (First Round) -- d. Fred Ask (Wisconsin), 7-6, 7-6
Saturday, Oct. 15 (Second Round) -- l. Billy Pecor (Notre Dame), 3-6, 6-3, 7-5
Alex Buzzi
Friday, Oct. 14 (First Round) -- l. Juuso Ojanen (Illinois State), 2-6, 6-4, 6-4
Saturday, Oct. 15 (Consolation) -- l. Gihs Linders (Michigan State), 6-4, 6-1
Barrett Franks
Friday, Oct. 14 (First Round) -- l. No. 5 Chase Buchanan (Ohio State), 6-1, 6-4
Saturday, Oct. 15 (Consolation) -- l. Petr Satral (Wisconsin), 6-4, 7-6
Alex Petrone
Friday, Oct. 14 (First Round) -- d. Will Davis (Michigan State), 6-1, 6-2
Saturday, Oct. 15 (Second Round) -- l. Niall Fitzgerald (Notre Dame), 7-6, 7-6
Michael Zhu
Friday, Oct. 14 (First Round) -- l. Dan Mamalat (Marquette), 6-3, 7-6
Saturday, Oct. 15 (Consolation) -- d. Blas Moros (Notre Dame), 6-4, 7-6
Main Draw Doubles
No. 33 Evan King/Shaun Bernstein
Friday, Oct. 14 (First Round) -- d. Adam Reinhart/Sven Kasper (DePaul), 8-5
Saturday, Oct. 15 (Second Round) -- d. Will Davis/Ronnie Hulewicz (Michigan State), 8-4
Saturday, Oct. 15 (Third Round) -- d. Tim Kopinski/Stephen Hoh (Illinois), 8-4
Sunday, Oct. 16 (Quarterfinals) -- d. Alexander Pelaez/Tuomas Manner (Illinois State), 8-5
Sunday, Oct. 16 (Semifinals) -- l. Chase Buchanan/Peter Kobelt (Ohio State), 8-6
Alex Buzzi/Michael Zhu
Friday, Oct. 14 (First Round) -- d. Eric Honert/Kevin DeHerrera (Valparaiso), 8-3
Saturday, Oct. 15 (Second Round) -- l. Blaz Rola/Connor Smith (Ohio State), 8-2
Barrett Franks/Alex Petrone
Friday, Oct. 14 (First Round) -- d. Wyatt McCoy/Michael Moore (Notre Dame), 8-4
Saturday, Oct. 15 (Second Round) -- l. Alexander Pelaez/Tuomas Manner (Illinois State), 8-4
N O T E S
• King reached the semifinal round at last season's ITA Midwest Regional. He owns an impressive 13-3 career record at the annual fall event.
• In his previous meeting against Ohio State's Chase Buchanan, King fell 4-6, 6-4, 10 (7) in last season's dual meet.
Q U O T E S
Michigan Head Coach Bruce Berque
On Evan King's tournament performance ... "He had a lot of good wins. I don't think he received an easy draw by any means. Right from his first match, he was facing some pretty strong players. He had to work for every match that he got, and a lot of his opponents put up really good fights against him. I thought he had to be especially strong mentally. He was very consistent with his level of play, very consistent with his ability to get into his mind and compete very well throughout the week. I definitely think it was one of the better weeks of tennis I've seen him have."
On King's progress from a year ago ... "I think he's come a long way in a lot of ways. A lot of his physical skills are better, and I think he's matured a lot. We had a heart-to-heart after last week, because I actually thought last week at the All-American was a step back for him. He responded very well this week. He lost in the finals, but in that match, there was a one-break set and long, close games, where a point here or there could have turned it for him. Overall, I was pleased that he competed well in every single match from the first point to the last point."
Media Contact: Leah Howard (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
