University of Tennessee Athletics
Tennis Vols Depart for SEC Coaches' Indoor Championships
January 14, 2004 | Men's Tennis
Jan. 14, 2004
Tennessee's men's tennis team departed Wednesday for the SEC Coaches' Indoor Championships, which takes place Jan. 15-19 in Athens, Ga. The tournament marks the squad's first action this spring, but the final individual competition of the 2003-04 season.
Four Vols will be in action at the event. Senior Wade Orr will be playing out of the main singles draw, while freshmen Matt Berry, Johnny Thornton and Kiril Tcherveniachki will attempt to qualify for the main draw. The tournament serves as the collegiate debuts for mid-term enrollees Berry and Tcherveniachki.
"This tournament is SEC individual championships, which is a really good chance for the younger guys on the team to experience the high level of tennis they'll be seeing in the SEC," head coach Michael Fancutt said. "This will let the new freshmen see what college tennis is all about before they start playing dual matches.
"All these guys were great players in junior tennis. Some have won national championships in their home countries, like Matt and Kiril. Others were highly ranked in the state of Tennessee, like Johnny and Ben Rogers (who is not in action this weekend). But this is a new level of tennis for them."
Two rounds of qualifying matches take place Thursday and will feed into the main draw, which begins Friday. Tcherveniachki faces Vanderbilt's Nathan Sachs, Thornton plays Georgia's Matic Omerzel and Berry will take on Florida's Chris Brandi in first-round qualifying action Thursday morning.
Weekend Schedule
Thursday:
Qualifying Singles Matches
1st round begins at 8 a.m. (16 matches)
2nd round begins at approx. 1:30 p.m (8 matches)
2nd round winners will advance to the main draw
Friday:
Main Draw Singles Matches
Round of 64 begins at 8 a.m (20 matches)
Round of 32 begins approx. 3:30 p.m. (16 matches)
Saturday:
Main Draw singles and doubles
Round of 16 singles begins at 9 a.m. (8 matches)
Round of 32 and Round of 16 doubles will be played following singles
Sunday: Main Draw singles and doubles
Singles Quarterfinals
Singles Semifinals
Doubles Quarterfinals
Monday: Singles Finals
Doubles Semifinals
Doubles Finals
REA NAMED TO NEW ZEALAND DAVIS CUP SQUAD
AUCKLAND, New Zealand - First-year New Zealand Davis Cup captain Bruce Derlin announced the nation's four-man 2004 roster Wednesday. Among the three Davis Cup rookies named to the squad was 21-year-old Tennessee senior Simon Rea.
"We're proud of Simon making the Davis Cup team," Tennessee head coach Michael Fancutt said. "We've had a history of UT players representing their countries and improving in that competition - as many as three players in one year - and we're looking forward to (freshman New Zealander Kiril Tcherveniachki) improving over time and joining Simon on that team in years to come."
Rea, a native of Auckland, will compete for the Vols this month before joining his Kiwi teammates in Invercargill, New Zealand, for a Feb. 6-8 tie vs. India.
The complete 2004 New Zealand Davis Cup team includes Rea, Daniel King-Turner, Matt Prentice, Mark Nielsen and Adam Thompson as the fifth non-playing team member. Derlin serves as a non-playing captain.
REA, NIELSEN ELIMINATED BY FORMER VOL IN HEINEKEN OPEN DOUBLES ACTION
AUCKLAND, New Zealand - Volunteer senior Simon Rea and doubles partner Mark Nielsen were defeated Wednesday in the doubles quarterfinals at the ATP Heineken Open. Rea and Nielsen's elimination came at the hands of the world's No. 25-ranked doubles team of Jeff Coetzee and Chris Haggard.
Haggard spent two years at UT in the early 1990s, garnering All-SEC and All-America honors in 1993. He left school early to turn professional following the 1993 season and has held a spot among the world's elite doubles specialists in recent years.
