EAST LANSING, Mich. – The Cleveland State men's tennis team opened play at the ITA Midwest Regional Thursday, with first and second rounds of the Qualifying Singles Draw taking place.
Clark Bilinovich and Kade Mindry both picked up two wins on Thursday, advancing to Friday morning's third round matches.
"We had a good day today, the goal was for us to have people move on to Friday in the Qualifying Singles Draw, and we accomplished that with Clark and Kade," head coach Brian Etzkin said. "Clark was pretty efficient today, playing well and serving well, while Kade had two three-set victories, proving his mental and physical toughness. It was great to see these two play at a high level, and I'm excited to carry this momentum over to tomorrow with singles and doubles getting started."
Bilinovich picked up a first round win against Illinois State's Dominick Cuchran (6-3, 6-4), and then posted an upset victory over the No. 2 seed Marino Jakic from DePaul (6-2, 7-6(4)) in the second round. With his two wins, Bilinovich now has 52 career singles victories, and is just two wins shy of earning a spot on the top-15 singles wins list at CSU.
Mindry's first round win came against Western Michigan's Brogan Pierce (3-6, 6-3, 7-5), while his second round victory came against Illinois State's Pol Botifoll Rius (5-7, 6-2, 6-3).
Also competing for the Vikings in the Qualifying Singles Draw were Austin Staiger, JuandeDios Abboud and Hugo Chatras.
Action at the ITA Midwest Regional will continue tomorrow with the final round of Qualifying Singles and the opening rounds of the Main Doubles Draw.
Qualifying Singles Draw First Round
Clement Mainguy (YSU) def. Austin Staiger (CSU), 6-3, 6-1
Clark Bilinovich (CSU) def. Dominick Cuchran (ISU), 6-3, 6-4
Kade Mindry (CSU) def. Brogan Pierce (WMU), 3-6, 6-3, 7-5
Luke Bayliss (MSU) def. JuandeDios Abboud (CSU), 6-3, 6-0
Qualifying Singles Draw Second Round
Clark Bilinovich (CSU) def. Marino Jakic (DEP), 6-2, 7-6(4)
Kade Mindry (CSU) def. Pol Botifoll Rius (ISU), 5-7, 6-2, 6-3
Melker Isaksson (ISU) def. Hugo Chatras (CSU), 7-6(3), 7-5
Qualifying Singles Draw Consolation Matches
JuandeDios Abboud (CSU) def. Zane Kohrs (ISU), 7-6(0), 6-4
Vlad Meluta (UT) def. Austin Staiger (CSU), 6-1, 6-3
Hugo Chatras (CSU) def. Diego Herrera (ISU), 6-4, 6-2