Heading into the third day of competition at the Michigan State Frank Beeman Invitational, the Toledo Rockets' men's tennis team has found success in the top flights of their fall debut. Senior Aleksandar Elezovic (Belgrade, Serbia) has fought his way into the two top-flight championships, singles and doubles. Joining him in the A flight doubles final will be partner Sven Burus (Slavonski Brod, Croatia), and they will be facing fellow Rockets Knot Likitkumchorn (Yala, Thailand) and Leo Sarria (Cali, Columbia) in an all-Toledo final.
"So far, we gotten what we wanted from this event," said Head Coach Al Wermer. "It's a nice bonus to have this success in the highest flights. We will improve a lot because that's what we do... But this start is exciting."
Elezovic had little trouble storming through the A Flight singles bracket. In the first round, he took down Duquesne's Pete Carpenter 6-3, 6-1. His second match was slightly more challenging, as he battled Western Michigan's Zeyd Montasser to a 7-6 (5), 6-3 victory. In the semifinal, Aleks prevailed again in a close match, defeating Detroit Mercy's Cesaar Escobar 6-3, 7-5. He will face off with Michigan State's Denis Bogatov on Sunday.
"I'm happy to be in finals of singles and doubles," said Aleks, "But there's one more day to go. I hope I'll win."
In doubles, Elezovic and Burus posted a pair a big wins, and a close victory to seal their entrance into the final. In the opening round they defeated Benalcazar/Crum of Dayton, 8-3. They had little trouble in their second-round match, posting an 8-4 win against Duquesne's Herchko/Carpenter. Elezovic and Burus faced the tough Michigan State duo of Norville and Richardson in the semifinal and battled ahead to a 9-8 victory.
Likitkumchorn and Sarria will square off with their fellow Rockets, Elezovic and Burus, after a hard-fought road to the final. In the opening round, the pair preserved an 8-6 victory over Dayton's Salcedo/Hanley. In the quarterfinal, Likitkumchorn and Sarria prevailed in a very close match with Detroit Mercy's Nunez/Escobar, winning 9-7. In the semifinal the pair defeated host Michigan State's Stratton/Pfister 8-5 to secure their place in the final.
In other action for Toledo, several Rockets advanced to the semifinals, just missing out on the championship match. In B Flight doubles, sophomores Bryant Dudzik (Gowan, MI) and Terence Weigand (Winter Springs, FL) nabbed a pair of 8-2 victories before falling in a close semifinal match with Michigan State's Lied/Davis, 9-7. In White Flight singles, Sarria also earned two victories before falling to Michigan State's Jason Norville, 6-3, 6-4, in the semifinal. Finally, senior Gursher Harika (Mansa, India) made it to the semifinal in Spartan Flight singles, before falling to Michigan State's Aaron Pfister, 6-3, 6-1.
The Rockets will conclude action in their first fall tournament on Sunday in East Lansing.
