Sept. 24, 2004
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (September 24, 2004) -- Senior Izak van der Merwe (Kempton Park, South Africa), the ninth ranked collegiate singles player in the country, advanced to the quarterfinals and sophomore Henrique Cancado (Belo Horizone, Brazil) upset the tournament's fourth seed in the first day of play at the University of Virginia Men's Tennis Invitational on Friday night.
Van der Merwe, the top seed in the Flight A bracket, advanced two rounds, both in straight sets. He defeated Darragh Rowan of N.C. State, 6-2, 6-1, and picked up a 6-4, 7-5 victory over Virginia's Treat Huey in the second round. In the quarterfinals, van der Merwe will face eighth seeded Todd Paul of Wake Forest. Paul, downed Virginia Commonwealth's Sergi Arumi, 6-4, 6-4 and Virginia's Stephen Rozek, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (5), in his first two round matches.
In other Monarch results, Cancado advanced to the second round in his Flight A bracket featuring an upset in his first round match-up. He opened with a three set, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 win over the tournament's fourth seed and 31st nationally ranked DJ Spice of Wake Forest. Cancado's run however ended in the second round with a 6-1, 6-0 defeat against Virginia's Somdev Dev Varman.
In the Flight B singles bracket, all four Monarch entries did not advance past the first round. Nate Grover (Suffolk, Va.) was edged out in three sets by Dillon Walker of Virginia, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. Sophomore Dominic Manilla (Greenwood, Va.) fell, 6-0, 6-3 to Virginia's Tim Taylor. Junior Adriano Mello (Londrina, Brazil) dropped a 6-3, 6-4 decision to N.C. State's Dennis Myers. Sophomore Jonathan Antle (Va. Beach, Va.) lost to Eric Riley of Virginia, 6-1, 6-2.
Mello rebounded with a victory in the consolation bracket. He earned a 6-3, 6-1 victory over William & Mary's Peter Szewczyk.
In doubles action, the Old Dominion doubles team of van der Merwe and Grover were upset in the first round of the Flight A doubles bracket. The Monarch duo, seeded second in the tournament and ranked #26 nationally, fell 8-3 to Virginia's team off Darrin Cohen and Jarrett Chirico.
In the Flight B doubles bracket, Cancado and Mello advanced to the second round with an 8-1 victory over liberty's Kenan Bell and Rios. Old Dominion's other doubles entry, Antle and Manilla, fell 8-0 to N.C. State's Ben Zink and Shaw.
To view the most updated brackets click here.