Stodder Earns Spot in Regional Final

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — After a strong performance Sunday, Timo Stodder advanced to the singles finals of the ITA Ohio Valley Championships at Goodfriend Tennis Center.

By reaching the final, Stodder also punched his ticket to the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships in Palm Desert and Indian Wells, California, which will be held at the beginning of next month.

After winning his first match on the day, Stodder faced Kentucky's Ryotaro Matsumura in the semifinals. Stodder held and then broke serve to begin the match, but Matsumura followed suit to even things at 2-2. After that, both players held serve until Stodder broke serve to take the first set 6-4.

Stodder pulled out to an early 5-2 lead in the second set, but Matsumura held and then broke serve to make it on serve at 5-4. Returning a cross-court forehand by Stodder, Matsumura sailed the ball long to give Stodder the 6-4, 6-4 victory.

Stodder will look to become just the second Volunteer ever to win the regional singles title, with the other Vol being Hunter Reese in 2013. He faces Vanderbilt's Daniel Valent in Monday's final, which is set to begin at approximately 10 a.m. ET.

In the quarterfinals, Stodder fought back after getting down 5-4 in the first set to force a tiebreaker. After winning the tiebreaker, he never looked back, cruising to a 7-6 (4), 6-1 win over eighth-seeded Antonio Cembellin from Indiana.

Preston Touliatos rolled through the second set after dropping the first in his match against Kentucky's William Bushamuka, the top seed in the draw. The momentum shifted back in favor of the Wildcat, though, as Touliatos' run came to an end in the quarterfinals, 6-3, 1-6, 6-2.

After coming up short in his first set, Scott Jones also fell in the quarters, dropping his match to Valent, 7-5, 6-1.

ITA Ohio Valley Regional Championships
Tennessee Results (Sunday)
Singles
Quarterfinals
[2] Timo Stodder (Tennessee) def. [8] Antonio Cembellin (Indiana), 7-6 (4), 6-1
[3] Daniel Valent (Vanderbilt) def. [11] Scott Jones (UT), 7-5, 6-1
[1] William Bushamuka (Kentucky) def. Preston Touliatos (Tennessee), 6-3, 1-6, 6-2

Semifinals
[2] Timo Stodder (Tennessee) def. [5] Ryotaro Matsumura (Kentucky), 6-4, 6-4

University of Tennessee Athletics

Players Mentioned

Scott Jones

Timo Stodder

Preston Touliatos

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