Azkara Advances to ITA Central Semis
STILLWATER, Okla — Arda Azkara won twice, once against his own teammate, and hehas advanced to the ITA Central Region semifinals, being held at Oklahoma State.
Azkara will face off with Oklahoma State’s Alejandro Garcia (the No. 6 seed) on Saturday at noon Central, 11 am Mountain Time. He earned that spot with two more wins on Friday. In the Round of 16, he faced off against teammate Georgio Samaha, and came out with a 6-3, 6-4 win. He moved in to the quarterfinals where he handled (17-32) Wichita State’s Alejandro Jacome with a 6-1, 6-1 drubbing.
Azkara was nearly joined by Arthur Bellegy in the semis. Bellegy won his Round of 16 matchup with Drake’s Jeremy Schifris, the No. 7 seed, winning a barnburner 7-5, 2-6, 6-2. He then battled well against the tournament’s top seed No. 1 Tyler Zink of Oklahoma State, losing 6-1, 6-4.
UNM’s only other player on the day was Rafael Abdulsalam, who lost to Jacome 7-6 (7-4), 6-3, but his teammate Azkara was able to avenge that defeat.
SINGLES
Round of 128
Alexander Maggs d. Matthew Lanahan (Creighton) 7-6 (7-4), 6-1
Arthur Bellegy d. Victor Tosetto (Tulsa) 6-1, 7-5
Avery Tallakson d. Nikolay Sysoev (Nebraska) 5-7, 6-4, 6-4
Aram Noroozian d. Luca Lo Nardo (Saint Louis) 6-1, 6-1
Nicolas Recoura d. Will Ecklund (Drake) 7-6 (7-5), 6-4
Kirtan Patel (Creighton) d. Daniil Kakhniuk 7-5, 6-3
Ryoma Matsushita d. Ricardo Filho (Oral Roberts) 1-6, 6-1, 6-4
Round of 64
Alexander Maggs d. (17-32) Lars Johann 6-3, 3-6, 6-4
Arthur Bellegy d. (17-32) Shunya Maruyama 6-3, 6-3
(8) Nathan Han (Oklahoma) d. Avery Tallakson 6-1, 6-2
(17-32) Georgio Samaha d. Ryoma Mishiro (Omaha) 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-2), 6-4
(5) Arda Azkara d. Callum Gale (Tulsa) 6-3, 6-2
(17-32) Rafael Abdulsalam d. Alejandro Gandini (Creighton) 6-4, 6-7 (7-9), 6-3
Aram Noroozian d. (17-32) Baptiste Anselmo 6-4, 6-1
(17-32) Volodymyr Zakharov (Tulsa) d. Nicolas Recoura 6-2, 6-2
(2) Isaa Becroft (Oklahoma State) d. Ryoma Matsushita 6-0, 7-6 (7-3)
Round of 32
(7) Jeremy Schifris (Drake) d. Alexander Maggs 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
Arthur Bellegy d. (12) Stefanos Savva (Arkansas) 6-4, 6-3
(17-32) Georgio Samaha d. (11) Benedikt Emesz (Arkansas) 2-6, 7-5, 7-6 (8-6)
(5) Arda Azkara d. Rudolf Christiansen (Nebraska) 6-0, 6-1
(17-32) Rafael Abdulsalam d. (13) Kristof Minarik (Wichita State) 6-2, 6-4
(6) Alejandro Garcia (Oklahoma State) d. Aram Noroozian 6-4, 6-4
Consolation R32
Ricardo Filho (Oral Roberts) d. Daniil Kakhniuk 7-6 (8-6), 6-1
Round of 16
Arthur Bellegy d. (7) Jeremy Schifris (Drake) 7-5, 2-6, 6-2
(5) Arda Azkara d. (17-32) Georgio Samaha 6-3, 6-4
(17-32) Alejandro Jacome (Wichita State) d. (17-32) Rafael Abdulsalam 7-6 (7-4), 6-3
Quarterfinals
(5) Arda Azkara d. (17-32) Alejandro Jacome (Wichita State) 6-1, 6-1
(1) Tyler Zink (Oklahoma State) d. Arthur Bellegy 6-1, 6-4
DOUBLES
Round of 32
(1) Matija Matic/Oliver Johanssen (Drake) d. Aram Noroozian/Rafael Abdulsalam 8-1
Georgia Samaha/Nicolas Recoura d. Alessio Basile/Erik Schiessl (Oklahoma State) 8-4
Timothy Carlsson Seger/Pierce Rollins (Tulsa) d. Alexander Maggs/Arda Azkara 8-7 (7-5)
Nic Wiedenhorn/Anton Shepp (Nebraska) d. Daniil Kakhniuk/Arthur Bellegy 8-2
(5) Kristof Minarik/Alejandro Jacome (Wichita State) d. Ryoma Matsushita/Avery Tallakson 8-6
Round of 16
(1) Matija Matic/Oliver Johanssen (Drake) d. Georgia Samaha/Nicolas Recoura 8-4