A successful first set of tennis placed freshman Duarte Vale just six games away from victory on Monday. But after dropping the second set and battling for a 5-5 tie in the deciding third, Vale faced elimination. He won the final two games of the match however, and secured his spot in the City of Sunrise Pro Tennis Classic’s main draw with a 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 upset over No. 8-seeded Filip Bergevi.
Joining him there, freshman Oliver Crawford met less of a challenge in his fourth and final match of the qualifying rounds. Crawford defeated his teammate, senior Jordan Belga, to earn his bid to the tournament’s main event, where he will play No. 7-seed Fred Gil. Gil’s current singles ranking is 514 in the world. Vale will face Strong Kirchheimer in his first-round match of the main draw.
The two freshmen have found much success early in their first season with the Gators. Vale is now 12-2 in singles play and boasts a top-40 singles ranking in the ITA preseason poll. In the fall, Crawford earned the No. 11 doubles ranking with his partner, senior Chase Perez-Blanco. While he hasn’t seen as much singles play as his freshman teammates, Crawford, the No. 1 high school recruit from South Carolina, has added four wins to his 2-1 singles record from the fall.
First-round action opens Tuesday, but both Gators are scheduled to play later in the week.
Follow Benjamin Brandt on Twitter @bhb1227 and contact him at jahlum@alligator.org
Two of coach Bryan Shelton's three freshmen qualified for the main draw in the Sunrise Pro Tennis Classic over the weekend. Jordan Belga and Duarte Vale will play their matches later this week.
