University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
ITA Fall Nationals
Players Mentioned
Milicevic Wraps Up Play at Fall Nationals
11/9/2019 7:42:00 AM | Men's Tennis
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. — Gophers senior Stefan Milicevic represented the Maroon & Gold at the 2019 Oracle ITA National Fall Championships Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. The senior was one of only 64 players in the nation who qualified for the tournament held in Newport Beach, Calif.
In Milicevic's opening match of the tournament, the Gophers senior matched up with Wake Forest junior Bar Botzer, who received the No. 15 ranking by the ITA in their preseason singles rankings. Milicevic, who was ranked No. 93, knew he had a tough task in front of him. Despite a great performance from Milicevic, it was Botzer who came out on top by a score of 6-2, 6-4. This loss sent Milicevic into the tournament's consolation bracket, which picked up play on Thursday.
Stefan Milicevic's first consolation match on Thursday morning proved to be an extremely hard fought match from both sides, as Milicevic took on BYU senior Sean Hill. Hill, who received the No. 55 ranking from ITA in the preseason, refused to go down without a fight. After a long, grueling, back and forth match that went a total of three sets, Stefan Milicevic came away victorious, defeating the BYU Cougar 7-6(0), 6-7(4), 7-5.
On his third day of competition, Stefan Milicevic was tasked with yet another challenging opponent in Gabriel DeCamps of the University of Central Florida. The No. 29 ranked player in the ITA's preseason rankings proved to be a handful, and despite a great effort by Milicevic, DeCamps went on to win the match 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, ending Milicevic's Fall Nationals journey.
Notable:
Stefan Milicevic logged a win on Thursday against 55th-ranked Sean Hill of BYU. This marks Milicevic's biggest upset since his 6-3, 6-3 victory over then 57th-ranked Juan Pablo Mazzuchi of Central Florida last season.
Quotable:
"It was a fun experience, even though I'm not completely satisfied with my results," senior Stefan Milicevic said. "However, every match is a learning experience, so I'll try to get the most out of it and get back to working hard and improving my game."
Up Next:
While Milicevic won't be able to participate, the rest of the Gopher men's tennis team will continue to play in their annual Gopher Invitational at Baseline Tennis Center over the course of this weekend. Day two runs of competition picks back up today at 8 a.m.