Oct. 7, 2008
TULSA, Okla. - New Mexico seniors Johnny Parkes and Graeme Kassautzki are each one win away from entering the main draw of the qualifying rounds of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) All-American Championships, hosted by the University of Tulsa. Parkes defeated Sebastian Gallego of Minnesota today, 6-3, 6-3, while Kassautzki won over Christian Rojmar of Texas Tech, 6-3, 6-0.
In round one of the singles qualifying, Parkes defeated Nebraska's David Bendheim, who is ranked 67th in the ITA pre-season polls, 6-3, 6-3. Kassautzki won a decisive two-set match over SMU's Artem Borodach, 6-1, 6-1.
The two Lobo seniors were pre-selected for the qualifying round. The final 16 players of the singles qualifying draw advance to play in the concluding 64-man draw starting on Thursday, Oct. 9.
Parkes will take on Bradley Klahn of Stanford tomorrow at 8 a.m. (MDT). Kassautzki will play Florida State's Clint Bowles at 9 a.m.
Qualifying action for doubles begins on Tuesday, Oct. 7. Representing New Mexico will be the duo of Johnny Parkes and Miles Bugby who will face Sasha Heinemann and Andreas Weber of Hawaii. Joe Wood and Graeme Kassautzki will match up against Tulsa's Marko Ballok and Alberto Sottocorno.
Teams must advance three rounds in doubles qualifying to enter the main draw.
This weekend the Lobos host the UNM Balloon Fiesta Invite. Play will start at 9 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 3, and will continue through Saturday.
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