Oct. 24, 2010
Complete Results | TOURNAMENT CENTRAL
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Senior John Peers and junior Kike Grangeiro were the only Baylor players to complete day two of the USTA/ITA Texas Regional unscathed as the pair of Bears earned spots into the singles quarterfinal round with two victories on Sunday at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center.
Peers also teamed with his doubles partner, Roberto Maytin, to grab two victories in the 64-team doubles draw and punch a ticket to the regional semifinals.
In singles play, Peers opened with a 6-4, 6-4 thrashing of UT-Arlington's Yauheni Yakauleau in round of 32 play, before getting past Texas' Jean Andersen 6-3, 1-6, 6-1 to reach the quarterfinals. Peers improves his fall record to 8-2 with the two victories. In the quarterfinals, the senior will play Texas A&M's Austin Krajicek, on Monday at 9 a.m. Krajicek is ranked No. 12 in the country and is seeded No. 1 in this regional.
"It was an interesting match in that none of the sets were close," head coach Matt Knoll said of Peers' round of 16 match. "It was up and down, but I thought John did a great job. He did a good job of regrouping after the second set and playing some good tennis in the third."
Like Peers, Grangeiro breezed through his round of 32 match by knocking off Raphael Pfister of Texas Tech 6-4, 6-2. Grangeiro followed that win with an even more impressive victory as he took care of 120th-ranked and eighth-seeded Alexey Grigorov of Texas A&M, 6-4, 7-5. This season the Baylor junior is 3-0 against ranked opponents and 6-2 in fall play. Grangeiro will now face TCU's Emmanuel Brighiu at 9 a.m. on Monday for a spot in the tournament semifinals. Brighiu, seeded No. 14, knocked off second-seeded and 18th-ranked, Ed Corrie of Texas in round of 32 action.
"Kike was down 5-2 in the second, but he did a super job of really competing," Knoll said of Grangeiro's round of 16 contest. "Kike has really grown in that respect at Baylor. He now has the idea that we are going to fight for every point and compete the whole way."
Along with Peers and Grangeiro, 11th-seeded Roberto Maytin advanced to the round of 16 by beating Sudanwa Sitaram of Texas in three sets, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. The sophomore Bear, however, was then toppled by 22nd-ranked and third seeded Jeff Dadamo, 6-2, 6-3. Maytin finishes with a 2-1 mark at the tournament to boost his fall record to 6-4.
"Bobby (Maytin) played really well here," Knoll said. "He played a great third set against Sitaram of Texas. I thought he did a super job of getting out of that match, after being behind. I thought he played pretty well against Dadamo. Again the deal there is he got down 0-4 to start the match and that is a tough spot to put yourself in against a guy of Jeff's caliber."
Junior Julian Bley was taken out in the round of 32 by Alexis Klegou of Texas A&M, 6-2, 6-1. The loss leaves Bley with a 1-1 record in the regional and moves his fall mark to 4-3. Freshman Robert Verzaal was also dispatched in the round of 32, falling to Rafael Garcia of Texas Tech, 7-5, 6-4. Verzaal was 2-1 in College Station, which places his overall record at 3-5.
Both of the Bears' doubles tandems were able to advance to the event's quarterfinals, Maytin and Peers were then able to win one more match to be one of the last four teams standing in the tournament.
The sixth-seeded and 57th-ranked Baylor duo came out and beat Beau Bernstein and Ashwin Vijayragavan of UT-Pan American, 8-3, and then went on to dominate second seeded and 23rd-ranked Emanuel Brighiu and Christopher Price of TCU, 8-2. The pair will face seventh-seeded Kellen Damico and David Holiner of Texas on Monday at with a trip to the regional finals on the line.
"John and Bobby have played well," Knoll said. "They have played some clean matches and we are really looking forward to them playing tomorrow. I think it has been a really good start to the tournament for them."
After, Grangeiro and Bley bested 46th-ranked Niall Anggus and Alexey Grigorov of Texas A&M, 9-8 in the round of 16, the duo was eliminated by 24th-ranked Jean Andersen and Ed Corrie of Texas in quarterfinal action.
USTA/ITA Texas Regional
Oct 24, 2010 at College Station, Texas
(George P. Mitchell Tennis Center)
Singles competition
r32 Rafael Garcia (Texas Tech) def. Robert Verzaal (Baylor) 7-5, 6-4
r32 #28 John Peers (Baylor) def. Yauheni Yakauleau (University of Texas-Arlington) 6-4, 6-4
r32 Alexis Klegou (Texas A&M) def. Julian Bley (Baylor) 6-2, 6-1
r32 Roberto Maytin (Baylor) def. Sudanwa Sitaram (Texas) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
r32 Kike Grangeiro (Baylor) def. Raphael Pfister (Texas Tech) 6-4, 6-2
r16 #28 John Peers (Baylor) def. Jean Andersen (Texas) 6-3, 1-6, 6-1
r16 #22 Jeff Dadamo (Texas A&M) def. Roberto Maytin (Baylor) 6-2, 6-3
r16 Kike Grangeiro (Baylor) def. #120 Alexey Grigorov (Texas A&M) 6-4, 7-5
Doubles competition
r16 #57 Roberto Maytin/John Peers (Baylor) def. Beau Bernstein/Ashwin Vijayragavan (UT-Pan American) 8-3
r16 Julian Bley/Kike Grangeiro (Baylor) def. #46 Niall Angus/Alexey Grigorov (Texas A&M) 9-8
qf #57 Roberto Maytin/John Peers (Baylor) def. #23 Emanuel Brighiu/Christopher Price 8-2
qf #24 Jean Andersen/Ed Corrie (Texas) def. Julian Bley/Kike Grangeiro (Baylor) 9-7
