LAS VEGAS, Nev. – University of New Mexico senior Samir Iftikhar is headed to the quarterfinals of the singles competition at the 2014 USTA/ITA Mountain Regional Championships after pulling off an incredible comeback against a tough opponent on Thursday evening at the Darling Tennis Center.
The second-seeded Lobo saw his chance at a regional title slipping away as he battled No. 12 seed Brenden McClain of Boise State in the round of 16. McClain led the match 7-5, 5-2, but Iftikhar wasn’t ready to give up the fight quite yet. His Bronco opponent had an opportunity to claim the match on six different occasions, but Iftikhar hung around and made his way back, point by point. Just when McClain thought he had the match in the bag, Iftikhar rallied and claimed the second set, 7-6, to force the match to move into a third set. Iftikhar took the lead in the third set and never looked back, eventually claiming the match, 5-7, 7-6, 6-1.
Iftikhar will face Nevada’s Andrew Poustie in the quarterfinals on Friday.
Iftikhar was not the only Lobo who found success in singles action on Thursday. Freshman Bart Van Leijsen (No. 19 seed) pulled off an upset victory over No. 3 seed Francis Sargeant of BYU in the round of 32. Twenty-fifth seeded Mitchell McDaniels claimed an upset win over No. 5 seed Denys Pume of UNLV, also in the round of 32.
However, Van Leijsen’s and McDaniels’s run in singles came to an end in the round of 16 as they each dropped their matches. Van Leijsen fell to BSU’s No. 13 seed Garrett Patton, 6-4, 7-6. McDaniels also lost in a tight battle as he dropped a 7-6, 7-6 match to ninth-seeded Alex Gasson of Denver.
Rodolfo Jauregui, James Hignett, and Hayden Sabatka came up short in their round of 32 matches on Thursday. Jauregui (No. 16 seed) fell to BSU’s Thomas Tenreiro (No. 7), 6-1, 6-1. Hignett dropped a 6-2, 6-4 match to Poustie. New Mexico State’s twenty-first seeded Liam Goldberg upset Sabatka (No. 6 seed), 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.
“Another long and productive day at regionals,” head coach Bart Scott said. “Some big wins over high seeds and a few tough losses. Sam came up with a huge come from behind win after facing six match points.”
Sean Baklini and Shunji Hirooka both finished the day 1-1 in consolation singles action. Baklini moved past the first round after his opponent Jordan Gobatie of Northern Arizona withdrew with an injury. However, Baklini dropped a close 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 match to NAU’s Kester Black in the second round. Hirooka defeated Utah State’s Matt Sweet, 6-4, 6-4 in the first round, but fell to USU’s Jaime Barajas, 6-3, 7-5, in the following round.
The Lobos dominated in doubles play on the second day of regional competition. UNM went 3-0 in main draw doubles play. Iftikhar and Baklini defeated Victor Brown and Aidan Carrazedo (BYU), 8-6, in the round of 32. Hignett and Van Leijsen defeated Eric Fought and Javier Martin-Morillas of Montana State, 8-0. Jauregui and Sabatka defeated Weber State’s Hou-en Chen and Todd Fought, 8-3.
All three Lobo doubles pairs will compete in round of 16 play on Friday.
“We definitely got better today as a team,” Scott said. “Coach Dunbar and I want to give our strength coach Ryan Dupre a big shout out as our team is fit and fresh still after two grueling days in the Vegas heat!”
FULL RESULTS AVAILABLE HERE:
http://tennislink.usta.com/Tournaments/TournamentHome/Tournament.aspx?T=163113#&&s=8Results2