Two Men’s Tennis Players Win Titles at Louisville Invitational

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Sophomore Cole Shoults and junior Filip Zupancic fought their way to individual titles for the Toledo men’s tennis team at the Louisville Invitational in weekend competition that ended Sunday in Kentucky. Shoults earned the F singles title, and Zupancic took the E singles back draw title.

“This type of tournament is three days of enduring delays and weather,” said Head Coach Al Wermer. “Our guys persevered, found some good results, and I was impressed with a pretty strong Sunday finish.”

Despite falling in their first rounds of doubles, duos Zupancic and senior Danilo Vukotic and Shoults and senior Thawin Suksathaporn each fought their ways to the C Doubles and D Doubles back draw finals, respectively. In the C Doubles back draw final, Zupancic and Vukotic met Middle Tennesse State University’s Sean Pression and Pavel Motl, but fell short of the title, with Pression Motl coming out on top 6-3. Meanwhile, in the D doubles back draw final, Shoults and Suksathaporn faced Louisville’s Clement Filho and Juan Paredes for the title, defeating the Cards duo, 6-3.

In the F singles bracket, Shoults earned the crown, picking up wins against Butler’s Michael Karr (8-3), Temple’s Michael Haelen (6-3, 6-3), and Xavier’s Jan Vrba (6-2, 6-3) before defeating Ball State’s Abe Wojtalik in a three-set thriller 0-6, 6-2, 10-6.

Zupancic stumbled on the opening day of singles, falling to East Tennessee State University’s Chris Mikrovas, but fought his way through the E singles back draw final Saturday, tallying wins against Ball State’s Bryce Bonin (4-6, 6-3, 10-7) and Xavier’s Jake Zipoli (6-1, 6-1) before meeting Xavier’s Mike Lee in the final Sunday. Zupancic earned the E singles back draw title with a three-set win over Lee (3-6, 6-4, 10-7).

Up next, the Rockets will travel to Columbus, Ohio, for the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Midwest Regionals Oct. 17-21.