RELATED LINKS: Final Results

LAKELAND, Fla. – The University of West Alabama tennis programs wrapped up play over the weekend at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) South Regional Championships, hosted by Florida Southern College. 

Leading the charge was freshman Federico Iturbe. After dropping his opening round matchup with Philip Bosman of Spring Hill in a 10-6 tiebreaker, he moved to the consolation draw and nearly ran the table. After back-to-back wins over Luis Eduardo Platas of Palm Beach Atlantic and Samuel Maia of Montevallo in third-set tiebreaks. 

Advancing to the semifinals to take on Simon Luigs of Montevallo, the Olavarria, Argentina native took the opening set, 7-6, after a 7-4 tiebreaker. He eventually knocked off his opponent with a 6-2 score in the second set to play for the back-draw final. 

Playing Sebastian Rondon of West Florida, a Second Team All-GSC selection a year ago, he took down Itrube in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4. 

"Fede had a very good week. He had a lot of competitive matches and played well in all of them," said assistant coach Jose Bendeck. "As a freshman, he is showing a lot of improvement and potential to get better."

Also on the men's side, the doubles team of Lucas Hammond and Wilson Igbinovia advanced to the quarterfinals of the main draw, posting wins over Embry-Riddle and Spring Hill. In the round of eight matchup with No. 5 Nicolas Bacella/Gahli Mensour of St. Leo, the match was forced to a tiebreak with the set knotted up at seven points each. However, it was the St. Leo duo with the 7-4 tiebreak score to advance. 

In the women's doubles draw, UWA's Heden Ly and Hardija Vidnere dropped Marie Guillaume/Sofia Pepe of Delta State, 8-6, to play in the Round of 16. However, the No. 5 seeded team in the draw in Marie Guillaume/Sofia Pepe from Mississippi College eliminated UWA from the event with an 8-7 (4) score. 

On the women's side in singles, Emiri Takanishi and Vidnere each won a match in the main draw. 

"It was great seeing our girls compete this weekend against very good opponents. We still need to make some adjustments as a team, but we are looking forward to having a great rest of the fall season," said assistant coach Katia de la Garza. 

UWA will return to the courts for a fall tournament on Oct. 6-7 in Livingston. 

Below are the results from this weekend's regional. Click on the link above to view the final brackets for the main and consolation draws. 

Women's Singles
R64: Emiri Takanishi def. Isabelle Barefoot (Montevallo), 6-3, 6-0
R32: Deniza Marcinkevica (9) (Lynn) def. Takanishi, 6-1, 6-4

R64: Hardija Vidnere def. Polina Vlasova (Rollins), 6-2, 6-4
R32: Dinara Alloyarova (3) (Barry) def. Vidnere, 6-4, 7-5

R64: Laura Cuesta def. Heden Ly, 7-6 (4), 6-2
C32: Klara Podskubknova (Montevallo) def. Ly, 6-2, 6-7 (5), 10-5

R64: Greta Schieroni (4) (Lynn) def. Lolita Hukasian, 6-2, 6-1
C32: Hukasian def. Frida Alsterhem (Palm Beach Atlantic), 6-2, 6-4
C16: Podskubknova (Montevallo) def. Hukasian, 6-0, 6-1


Women's Doubles
R32: Heden Ly/Hardija Vidnere def. Marie Guillaume/Sofia Pepe (Delta State), 8-6
R16: Marie Guillaume/Sofia Pepe (5) (Mississippi College) def. Ly/Vidnere, 8-7 (4)

R32: Dinara Alloyarova/Nathalia Gasparin (5) (Barry) def. Emiri Takanishi/Greta Zawels, 8-1
C16: Viktoriia Fedorova/Evelyn Altmaier (Valdosta State) def. Takanishi/Zawels, 8-4


Men's Singles
R64: Lucas Hammond def. Adrian Contreras (9) (AUM), 6-3, 0-6, 10-8
R32: Alex Benichou Blanchard (Mississippi College) def. Hammond, 6-2, 7-6 (5)

R64: Philip Bosman (Spring Hill) def. Federico Iturbe, 6-3, 2-6, 10-6
C16: Iturbe def. Luis Eduardo Platas (Palm Beach Atlantic), 6-3, 4-6, 10-6
CQF: Iturbe def. Samuel Maia (Montevallo), 4-6, 6-2, 10-5
CSF: Iturbe def. Simon Luigs (Montevallo), 7-6 (4), 6-2
CFI: Sebastian Rondon (West Florida) vs. Iturbe. 6-4, 6-2

R64: Efe Comu (9) (Rollins) def. Wilson Igbinovia, 6-3, 6-3
C32: Igbinovia def. Alvaro Saint Martin (Mississippi College), 7-6 (4), 6-1
C16: Batu Ataseven (Eckerd) def. Igbinovia, 5-4, 6-4, 10-7


Men's Doubles
R32: Lucas Hammond/Wilson Igbinovia def. Joshua Nuyts/Caelan Potts (Embry-Riddle), 8-5
R16: Hammond/Igbinovia def. Paul-Philipp Kern/Hugo Blasco (Spring Hill), 8-0
RQF: Nicolas Bacella/Gahli Mensour (5) (St. Leo) def. Hammond/Igbinovia, 8-7 (4)