University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
SEC Fall Classic
Reese Opens Senior Year with Win at SEC Classic
September 19, 2014 | Men's Tennis
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Hunter Reese opened his senior season with a victory Friday as the Vols began competition at the SEC Fall Classic.
Reese, ranked 21st nationally in the preseason singles rankings, defeated Florida's Rich Brej 6-1, 6-2 on a rainy day at Ring Linder Stadium.
Freshman Igor Smelyanski also collected a straight-set victory, beating Vanderbilt freshman Baker Newman 6-2, 7-5.
Five Vols lost opening-round singles matches, many of them close contests. Freshman Jess Jones lost to Vanderbilt freshman Danny Valent 2-6, 6-4, 6-4. Junior Bartosz Sawicki lost to Zvonimir Babic of Ole Miss in a pair of tiebreakers 7-6, 7-6.
Showers in the early afternoon delayed much of the competition by several hours, save for the handful of matches played on Florida's three new indoor courts. This forced second round doubles matches to start late in the evening.
In doubles, the Vols had two teams advance to the second round. Smelyanski and Andrew Dromsky, winners last week at the SEC Fall Classic, extended their winning streak to six matches win an 8-7 (4) win over Jeff Offerdahl and Kris Yee of Vanderbilt. Their streak ended under the lights with an 8-5 loss to Andrew Adams and Kyle Koch of South Carolina.
Jones collected his first career doubles win, teaming up with fellow freshman Valero. The pair lost 8-6 in the second round to Vanderbilt's Newman and Ryan Smith 8-6 later in the evening.
SEC FALL CLASSIC
Friday's Results
Singles
Play-In Match
Sam Swank (South Carolina) def. Sunay Bhat (Tennessee), 6-2, 7-6 (5)
Round of 64
[3] Hunter Reese (Tennessee) def. Rich Brej (Florida), 6-1, 6-2
Igor Smelyanski (Tennessee) def. Baker Newman (Vanderbilt), 6-2, 7-5
Danny Valent (Vanderbilt) def. Jess Jones (Tennessee), 2-6, 6-4, 6-4
A.J. Catanzariti (Texas A&M) def. Luis Valero (Tennessee), 7-6, 6-3
Zvonimir Babic (Ole Miss) def. Bartosz Sawicki (Tennessee), 7-6, 7-6
Justin Butsch (LSU) def. Andrew Dromsky (Tennessee), 6-2, 6-2
Doubles
Round of 32
[5-8] Dromsky/Smelyanski (Tennessee) def. Offerdahl/Yee (Vanderbilt), 8-7 (4)
Jones/Valero (Tennessee) def. Belga/Perez-Blanco (Florida), 8-4
Wardell/Landert (Florida) def. Sawicki/Bhat (Tennessee), 8-2
Round of 16
Newman/Smith (Vanderbilt) def. Jones/Valero (Tennessee), 8-6
Adams/Koch (South Carolina) def. Dromsky/Smelyanski (Tennessee), 8-5
