Source: UA Sports Information
Date Published: 10/7/2005 7:52:03 AM
Last Modified: 10/7/2005 7:52:04 AM
PermaLink: http://haw.gs/n15933

TULSA, Okla. – Arkansas’ sixth-ranked doubles team of Adrians Zguns and Rohan Gajjar advanced Thursday to the quarterfinals of the Polo Ralph Lauren ITA All-American Championships at the Michael D. Case Center in Tulsa, Okla.

The trio of Gajjar, Zguns and Matt Roberts all advanced to the round of 32, but were eliminated from singles play Thursday, each beaten by one of the nation’s top-30 players.

Ranked No. 6 entering the season and seeded 4th in the ITA All-American Championships, Gajjar and Zguns opened the 2005-06 campaign with a 8-4 victory over Bram ten Berge and Juan Pablo Di Cesare of Ole Miss. The pair moves into Friday’s quarterfinal match against Stanford’s 13th-ranked team of K.C. Corkery and James Pade. The match is set for 3 p.m. Friday.

The Hogs continued strong play in singles to begin Thursday’s competition, but ran into tough opposition in the round of 32.

Gajjar, a senior and ranked 31st nationally, played his first matches of the 2005-06 season Thursday. The Mumbai, India native took his first match, 6-4, 6-4, over No. 89 Eric Langenkamp of Notre Dame in the round of 64. Gajjar fell in the round of 32 to the Air Force Academy’s Shannon Buck, ranked 28th, 6-2, 6-0. Gajjar is 1-1 this fall.

Fellow senior Zguns won his fourth consecutive match Thursday morning, knocking off the nation’s 102nd-ranked player, Arvid Puranen of Virginia Tech, 1-6, 6-3, 6-3. The win was the fourth consecutive for Zguns, who claimed three victories earlier in the week to earn a place in the main draw. Zguns, of Liepaja, Latvia, was ousted from singles competition in the round of 32 by the tournament’s 11th-seed and the nation’s 13th-ranked player, Luke Shields of Boise State, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2. This fall, Zguns is 4-1.

Roberts faced possibly the toughest draw of the three Razorbacks. The senior from Little Rock opened the main draw with a straight-set win over No. 32 Joseph Jung of Alabama, 7-5, 6-0. Roberts also gained a berth in the main draw by posting three wins earlier this week. In the round of 32, Roberts faced the event’s 3rd-seed and national No. 3 Ben Kohlleffel of UCLA. Roberts lost for the first time this fall, 6-4, 6-2, leaving his fall record at 4-1.

Fans can follow the Hogs’ progress in the ITA All-American Championships by going to http://tulsahurricane.collegesports.com/sports/m-tennis/spec-rel/tuls-m-tennis-scoreboard.html.

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