Cajuns Perform Well At Pensacola Futures To Close Out Fall

Contact: Jeff Schneider

PENSACOLA, Fla. – Coming off of a good showing at the Birmingham Futures event, the 71^st ranked Ragin' Cajuns men's tennis team went 9-4 at the Pensacola Futures to close out the 2012 fall season.

“I think we finished the fall off very well,” head coach Mark Jeffrey said. “We've posted winning records against the pros for the firs time since I have been here. I couldn't be happier with where we are as a program, and hopefully we carry our momentum over into the spring.”

Sophomore Jarred Wynan reached the finals of his bracket after defeating Malte Stropp of Germany, 6-4, ret. The win is the first for Wynan over a ranked opponent, as Stropp is rated 47^th in ITA Division I Men's Singles Poll for Mississippi State.

Wynan gutted out a tough 7-5, 7-5 decision over fellow Aussie Elliot Keyser in the first round. He then went on to defeat Russian Nikolay Nikiforov 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, to reach the semifinals.

In the finals, Wynan fell to the No.7 seed Romain Bogaerts of Belarus 7-6(2), 6-1.

“Jarred Wynan was a big winner for us this weekend,” Jeffrey added. “He beat a very good player from Mississippi State in Stropp who plays No.1 and No.2 for the Bulldogs. Jake Wynan also had a good showing beating a guy ranked 1500 in the ATP.”

Jake Wynan, Carl Alberton and Damian Farinola each went 2-1 at the Pensacola Futures. Jake Wynan scored a major upset against No.5 seed Spencer Feldman, 6-3, 6-2, before falling in the semifinals of his bracket to Mario Jakovljevic, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5. Wynan won his first round match against Dallana Wijesundera, 6-2, 6-1.

Alberton picked up wins against Kevin Gardner, 6-1, 6-1, and William Albanese, 6-4, 7-5, while Farinola defeated Sascha Bilek, 7-5, 6-2, and Christopher Grant, 7-5, 6-2.

“We had a lot of success, but we didn't reach all of our goals this fall,” Jeffrey stated. “For us to really take this program to the next level we have to see a guy make it into the main draw at Futures events and earn a world ranking. When you have a player obtain a world ranking it validates a player and other players on the team feed off of the players success.”

Louisiana is slated to open the 2013 spring season on Jan. 25 in Columbus, Ohio when the Cajuns face Miami (Fla.) in the opening round of the ITA Division I Men's Kick-Off Weekend.

-- Ragin' Cajuns --

Cajuns Perform Well At Pensacola Futures To Close Out Fall

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