University of Minnesota Athletics
Svenda Takes Title at Drake Invitational
9/20/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Eddie Svenda won the 'C' flight singles title to lead four Minnesota competitors at the Drake men's tennis invitational over the weekend in Des Moines, Iowa.
Brendan Ruddock added a runner-up finish in the 'B' flight, while Jonathan Hadash reached the semifinals in the 'A' flight. Michael Sicora was knocked out in the second round of the 'A' flight.
Svenda, a sophomore who won one of his five matches during his freshman year, dropped one set in his four victories over the weekend. He defeated James McAvoy of Creighton 6-0, 1-6, 6-0 in the title match after a 6-2, 6-2 semifinal win over Ryan Norman of Creighton. Svenda also had wins over Conor Buchanon of Northern Colorado 6-1, 6-2 and Connor Macey of Creighton 6-3, 6-2.
Ruddock won his first three collegiate matches in straight sets before falling in the championship match to James McKie of Drake 6-2, 2-6, 6-4. He advanced to the finals by beating Niko Karnop of Gustavus Adolphus 6-3, 6-2 in the first round and Sergey Dulin of Drake 6-1, 6-1 in the second round before a 6-3, 7-5 win over Ryan Drake of Drake in the semifinals.
Hadash and Sicora were both ousted by eventual 'A' flight runner-up Mauricio Ballivian of Drake. Hadash lost 2-6, 7-5, 6-1 in the semifinals, while Sicora fell 6-2, 6-2 in the second round. Hadash reached the third round with a pair of match tiebreaker victories. He edged Paulo Gonzalez of Southern Illinois-Edwardsville in the first round 4-6, 6-1, (10-6) and then rallied to bear Guilherme Marsiglia of Drake 4-6, 6-3, (10-8) in the second round. Sicora opened with a 6-0, 6-1 rout of Patrick Clark of Gustavus Adolphus.
Hadash and Ruddock reached the quarterfinals of the doubles draw, gaining a first round bye and beating Gonzalez and Jeremy Knipp of Southern Illinois-Edwardsville 8-4 in the second round. They lost to Clark and Niko Karnop of Gustavus Adolphus 8-6.
Ballivian eliminated Sicora in the doubles draw as well as the Drake player teamed with Cesar Brancho to beat Sicora and Svenda 8-5 in the second round. The Gopher teammates opened with an 8-1 win over Rob Edwards and Andre Lepine of Northern Colorado 8-1.
The Gophers will take part in the Pepperdine Invitational next weekend in Malibu, Calif.
Players Mentioned
