PROVO, Utah --- A pair of new faces led the charge for Utah State men's tennis at the ITA Mountain Regional Championship on Wednesday, as juniors David Cierny and Bodin Zarkovic advanced into the quarterfinals of the doubles draw as well as the round of 16 in singles play.
Cierny, a transfer from VCU, was seeded No. 23 entering the tournament and advanced into the round of 32 by defeating Utah's Jayson Blando, coming back from a dropped first set to win 2-6, 6-3, 6-4. In the following round, Cierny took down the tournament's third-seeded Geronimo Busleiman from Utah in a straight-set 7-6 (6), 6-3 victory to secure a spot in the round of 16.
Zarkovic, another transfer from Minnesota, took down two consecutive seeded opponents on his route to the round of 16. After a 6-3, 6-0 win over No. 27 Mateo Vereau from BYU, Zarkovic then faced another in-state opponent in Utah's Bruno Caula, seeded No. 6 overall. The native of Belgrade, Serbia again won in straight sets, defeating Caula 6-3, 6-1. Zarkovic has yet to drop a set in the singles tournament.
Elsewhere in doubles play, USU's top-seeded player, No. 12 Felipe Acosta, defeated Montana State's Bradley Buckland 6-2, 6-1 in the second round. The senior fell in the round of 32, however, falling to No. 32 Matheus Leite of BYU 6-4, 7-5. Freshman Sergi Mico Fenollar also notched a major upset for the Aggies, defeating No. 7 Simon Arca Costas of Boise State 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 in the second round, before falling to Idaho's Francisco Gay 6-3, 2-6, 6-1. Junior Roko Savin also faced off versus a Boise State Bronco in round two but ultimately fell to No. 9 Kyryll Kryvchun 6-3, 6-2. Fellow junior Javier Ruiz Medina forced a third set versus the tournament's No. 1 overall seed but eventually lost to Denver's James Davis 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.
In doubles play, Cierny and Zarkovic continued their stellar weekend by defeating New Mexico's Rafael Abdulsalam and Nicolas Prieto 8-7 (5). The ensuing round, the Aggie faced and defeated Sebastian Buxman and Arthur Serafim of Weber State, 8-5, to reach the quarterfinals where they will face Denver's James Davis and Matt Summers, the tournament's top-seeded doubles team. USU's last remaining doubles squad will look to avenge another Aggie duo, Mico Fenollar and sophomore Jack Ninteman, who lost 8-2 to Davis and Summers in the second round of doubles play.
The Aggies also showed resilience in the consolation bracket of doubles play. After a first-round exit, freshman Gabriel Chavez and junior Roko Savin rebounded to defeat Matteo Masala and Vivek Ramesh from Idaho 8-5. The duo then lost to Weber State's Coutinho and Savio, 8-5, in the next round. Another fallen Aggie partnership, Acosta and Ruiz Medina, also bounced back with an earned bye through the first consolation round followed by an 8-5 victory over Air Force's Justin Waldman and Nick Vroman to continue into the consolation quarterfinals.
In the consolation bracket of singles play, sophomore Jack Ninteman received a bye through the first round before bowing out to Daan Van Dijk of Montana State, 6-4, 7-6 (5), in the second round. Freshman Gabriel Chavez fell in his opening match of the bracket, falling to Matteo Masala of Idaho, 6-3, 6-3.
The ITA Mountain Regional Championship is scheduled to continue all day on Thursday with subsequent rounds continuing through to the championship matches on Saturday.
Fans can follow USU's men's tennis team on Twitter @USUMensTennis, on Facebook at /UtahStateMensTennis or on Instagram at USUMensTennis. Aggie fans can also follow the Utah State athletic program on Twitter, @USUAthletics, Facebook at /USUAthletics and on Instagram, @USUAthletics.
ITA Mountain Regionals Results
Doubles
Second Round
#1 Davis/Summers (DU) def. Mico Fenollar/Ninteman (USU) 8-2
#5 Cierny/Zarkovic (USU) def. Abdulsalam/Prieto (NM) 8-7 (5)
Round of 16
#5 Cierny/Zarkovic (USU) def. Sebastian Buxman/Arthur Serafim (WSU) 8-5
Consolation
Gabriel Chavez/Roko Savin (USU) def. Matteo Masala/Vivek Ramesh (UI) 8-5
Felipe Acosta/Javier Ruiz Medina (USU) def. BYE
Consolation Round of 16
Coutinho/Savio (WSU) def. Chavez/Savin (USU) 8-5
Acosta/Ruiz Medina def. Justin Waldman/Nick Vroman (AF) 8-5
Singles
Second Round
#1 James Davis (DU) def. Ruiz Medina (USU) 7-5, 4-6, 6-3
#9 Kyryll Kryvchun (BSU) def. Savin (USU) 6-3, 6-2
Mico Fenollar (USU) def. #7 Simon Arca Costas (BSU) 3-6, 7-5, 6-4
#12 Acosta (USU) def. Bradley Buckland (MSU) 6-2, 6-1
Zarkovic (USU) def. #27 Mateo Vereau (BYU) 6-3, 6-0
#23 Cierny (USU) def.Jayson Blando (UTAH) 2-6, 6-3, 6-4
Third Round
Francisco Gay (UI) def. Mico Fenollar (USU) 6-3, 2-6, 6-1
#32 Matheus Leite (BYU) def. #12 Acosta (USU) 6-4, 7-5
Zarkovic (USU) def. #6 Bruno Caula (UTAH) 6-3, 6-1
#23 Cierny (USU) def. #3 Geronimo Busleiman (UTAH) 7-6 (6), 6-3
Consolation
Matteo Masala (UI) def. Gabriel Chavez (USU) 6-3, 6-3
Jack Ninteman (USU) def. BYE
Consolation Round of 32
Daan Van Dijk (MSU) def. Ninteman (USU) 6-4, 7-6 (5)
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