ANN ARBOR, Mich. – It was a busy first day of action for Illinois State at the ITA Midwest Regional Championships in Ann Arbor, Michigan, as the Redbirds won four of five first-round singles qualifying matches and Adrian Dibildox won his second of the day to advance to Friday's qualifying round of 16, with an opportunity to move into the main singles draw and join teammate Nam Pham.
"I thought we had a good start to the day today, winning four out of five singles matches," ISU head coach Mark Klysner said. We played well in that opening round, but that second round got a little tougher and only Adrian managed to win. I couldn't be more pleased with how everyone of the guys played in that second round. So now, Adrian will play in the morning with his sights on getting into the main draw."
The Redbirds were red hot in the first-round singles matches, as Dibildox, Tomas Valencia, Tin Ostro and Emiliano Gonzales all picked up victories. Dibildox defeated Northern Illinois' Saul Berdullas (NIU) 7-5, 6-4, to move on and Valencia picked up a victory over Cleveland State's Austin Staiger by a final score of 6-0, 7-6. Ostro had little trouble with Eastern Illinois' Tyler Carlin in a 6-4, 6-4 victory and Gonzales cruised to a 6-2, 6-1 win over DePaul's Jona Gitschel to cap off a solid first set of matches for the Redbirds.
The second round of matches was not as kind to the 'Birds, as only Dibildox was able to secure a victory and move onto the round of 16. He squared off against Western Michigan's Matej Kajzer and rolled to a 6-1, 6-4 win to advance to Friday, where he will take on
Matthew Fullerton of Wisconsin at 8 a.m. for a chance to move into the main singles draw.
That final round of singles qualifying matches will be played in the morning on Friday, before three rounds of main draw doubles matches (8-game pro set) are contested.
RESULTS:
Qualifying Singles Round 1:
Tomas Valencia (ISU) def. Austin Staiger (CSU) 6-0, 7-6Â
Tin Ostro (ISU) def. Tyler Carlin (EIU) 6-4, 6-4
Emiliano Gonzales (ISU) def. Jona Gitschel (DEP) 6-2, 6-1
Adrian Dibildox (ISU) def. Saul Berdullas (NIU) 7-5, 6-4
Cole Cozens (TOL) def. Arvid Hjalte (ISU) 3-6, 6-1, 10-5
Qualifying Singles Round 2:
Adrian Dibildox (ISU) def. Matej Kajzer (WMU) 6-1, 6-4
Chad Miller (NU) def. Tomas Valencia (ISU) 6-3, 6-4
Jackson Caldwell (NU) def. Tin Ostro (ISU) 6-3, 6-2
Jackson Boone (WMU) def. Emiliano Gonzales (ISU) 6-3, 6-4
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