Abdulsalam Advances to Round of 16 at ITA Mountain Regionals

PROVO, Utah — Rafael Abdulsalam pulled off a solid upset, knocking off Boise State’s Kyryll Kryvchun, the No. 9 seed, in straight sets, catapulting him into the ITA Mountain Region semifinals.  Abdulsalam, the No. 20 seed, had an easy 6-3, 6-1 win, setting up a Round of 16 matchup with the top-seed in the tournament, James Davis of Denver.

Abdulsalam’s win was the only win of the day for the Lobos, who fell in all three Round of 32 doubles matches, and also had Arda Azkara fall in the Round of 32 in singles.

With the win Abdulsalam becomes one of 13 seeded players to make it to the Round of 16.  One of the three unseeded players is Tristan Sarap of Weber State, who defeated Azkara 6-1, 6-4, knocking out the Lobo freshman.  For Abdulsalam, the task is a tall one as Davis was the U-16 British champion, and in the ITAs he hasn’t lost a set in the tournament.  That Round of 16 match will take place on Thursday at 10 am.

In doubles, Abdulsalam and Nicolas Prieto nearly got into the Round of 16, losing in a tiebreaker 8-7 (7-5). Joel Pierleoni and Azkara, the 10-seed in the tournament, lost 8-6 and Alex Maggs and Jan Pucalka lost to the No. 2 seed in the tournament 8-5.