St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
USTA/ITA Regionals
Mladenov Advances To Finals At ITA Northeast Regionals
10/17/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
ITHACA, N.Y. - Playing in the final tournament of the team's 2011 fall campaign, St. John's men's tennis newcomer Vasko Mladenov has advanced to the championship match at the ITA Northeast Regionals, while teammates Milo Hauk and Gustav Kallen paired up to reach the round of eight in doubles play. The five-day tournament taking place on the campus of Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., concludes on Tuesday, Oct. 18.
In a bracket that started with 128 student-athletes, Mladenov, the tournament's fifth seed, advanced to the round of 32 with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Harvard's Alistair Felton after receiving an opening round bye. He then topped 17th-seeded Damien David of Buffalo 6-3, 6-4 to reach the round of 16, before ousting Princeton's Matt Spindler in another straight-set win 6-2, 7-6(4) to reach the quarterfinals. The junior transfer continued his run Monday morning with a 6-2, 6-2 win over fourth-seeded Xander Centenari of Dartmouth to reach the tournament semifinals. Shortly after, Mladenov followed up with a three-set 6-2, 4-6, 6-0 win over Cornell's Venkat Iyer to set up a championship match against sixth-seeded and nationally ranked Marc Powers of Yale.
Hauk reached the quarterfinals in singles action, but was defeated Monday morning by the tournament's second seed and nationally ranked Matija Pecotic of Princeton 7-5, 6-4. The seventh-seeded senior opened the tournament with a three-set win over Fairfield's Ian Tesmond, before ousting Dartmouth's Chris Kipouras 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 to advance to the round of 16. Hauk went on to reach the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Harvard's Denis Nguyen, before falling to Pecotic on Monday.
In doubles action, Hauk teamed up with Kallen and entered the 64-team bracket as the tournament's seventh seed. After an opening round bye, the duo defeated Brown's Tom Deighton and Dan Hirschberg, 8-4, before topping the ninth-seeded pairing from Boston College, 9-8(6), to advance to the quarterfinals. The team's tournament run ended Monday afternoon as third-seeded Felton and Casey Macmaster of Harvard picked up a slim 9-8(3) victory over the Red Storm pairing.
Mladenov will look to conclude the Red Storm's successful fall season on a high note on Tuesday morning when he and Powers meet at 9 a.m. for the tournament crown. Mladenov and Powers have met once already this fall campaign, as the St. John's newcomer claimed a 6-4, 6-1 win over the Bulldog to win the tournament title at the Farnsworth/Princeton Invitational (Sept. 16-18).
