LAS VEGAS, Nev. --- Alberto Perez defeated UNLV's No. 1 seed, Marko Maksimovic, 7-5 in the Mountain West Qualifiers. 0-6, 6-2 to advance to the championship match. There, Perez will face Grand Canyon's Andreas Loizas, who beat UC Davis' Ivan Savkin 6-3, 6-4.
The winner of the Mountain West Championship will qualify for the ITA Masters on November 5-8.
Perez set the tone in the opening set, taking it 7-5. After four straight breaks early, the score was tied 5-5 with Perez serving. After taking the deuce point to go up 6-5, Perez bolted to a love-40 lead, giving him quadruple break points for the set. He needed only three, taking the game at 40-30 and the set 7-5.
Maksimovic showed why he was the No. 1 seed, taking the second set 6-0 and winning 24 of 32 points. In the third, Perez turned the tables. His ace closed out the opening game, and down 15-40, he fought back to break serve and take a 2-0 lead.
A second straight deuce-point win made it 3-0, and a quick break and service win made it 5-0 in the third, giving Perez command of the match.
Perez had a match point at deuce with Maksimovic serving but couldn't convert it; then a break made it 5-2. Perez ended any comeback hopes with a love-game break to win the third set 6-2.