University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
ITA Regional
Milicevic makes quick work of Regional singles final
10/23/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Main Draw: Singles | Doubles
MINNEAPOLIS - The Gopher Men's Tennis program swept the singles and doubles finals at the ITA Central Regional Championship presented by Oracle, wrapping up action Monday at Baseline Tennis Center.
In the singles final Monday morning, sophomore Stefan Milicevic defeated Toby Boyer of Nebraska in straight sets, 6-1, 6-1, to earn an automatic bid to next month's 2017 Oracle ITA National Fall Championships in Desert Palm, California. Milicevic was seeded 17th in the tournament, surviving seven rounds from last Thursday until Monday morning. Along the way, he defeated no. 11 seed Maxim Tybar of Oklahoma State, ninth-seed Ferran Calvo of Oklahoma, and second-seed Joe Salazar of Arkansas.
"One of my goals before this tournament was to be a tough opponent. Whoever I play, I try to be as tough as possible so I break my opponent's game," said Milicevic after the final. "It worked this time. As long as I'm focused, it's going to work a lot of times."
The Gophers had five players in the round-of-16 in the singles bracket, but Milicevic would be the only player to advance through to the final two days of singles play. His Maroon & Gold teammates filled the stands to support him on the final day despite the early start time of 10:00 am. "It was pretty amazing," said Milicevic. "We also have a good crowd for dual matches so I didn't feel any different to be honest. I'm very grateful to the crowd."
"It's a boost to my confidence," Milicevic said. "I'm going to practice harder and just improve myself. I want to be as good as I can."
Milicevic will be joined in California by the doubles pair of Felix Corwin and Matic Spec. The Minnesota seniors defeated Artur Dubinski and Lefty Theodorou in Sunday's final to claim the doubles title. The third-seeded Gophers defeated ninth-seeds Adrian Oetzbach and Jochen Bertsch of Oklahoma and Majed Kilani and Jarod Hing of Tulsa on the way to the championship.
For more details on the regional tournament and consolation results, check out the complete coverage on GopherSports.com. The Minnesota trio will compete at 2017 ITA Fall Nationals from Wednesday, Nov. 1 - Sunday, Nov. 5. The rest of the Gophers wrap up the fall season at the Gopher Invite in Minneapolis the same weekend, Friday-Sunday.
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