Freshman Andrew Butz earned a win in the third round of the ITA All-American Championships on Sunday, but lost in the fourth and final round of pre-qualifying action.
Butz took on Georgia Tech’s Dean O’Brien in the semifinal round, picking up a three-set victory (7-5, 0-6, 6-4) to advance to the final against Duke’s Chris Mengel.
However, Butz lost in straight sets to Mengel (7-5, 6-1).
With pre-qualifying rounds over, the qualifying rounds will begin today with a 128-player draw that includes three Gators – junior Nassim Slilam and sophomores Sekou Bangoura Jr. and Bob van Overbeek.
Senior Alexandre Lacroix will begin play in the main draw beginning Thursday.
Two Gators Advance: Alexandra Cercone and Joanna Mather went undefeated in pre-qualifying action in the ITA All-American in Pacific Palisades, Calif., earning spots in the tournament’s qualifying rounds.
Only a freshman, Cercone continued her strong play Sunday by defeating Katariina Tuohimaa of TCU in straight sets (6-3, 6-3).
Mather also won in straight sets, defeating Georgia Tech’s Christina Ngo (6-2, 6-4).
With their victories, Mather and Cercone will join teammate Caroline Hitimana in the qualifying rounds, which begin Tuesday.
Freshman Sofie Oyen was unable to advance after she lost to Georgia Tech’s Jillian O’Neill (7-5, 6-2).
In doubles action, the team of Cercone and Hitimana came up just short of making the qualifying rounds.
The team picked up a victory over Tulane’s duo of Emma Levy and Mariam Kurdadze (8-2), but lost in the final round of pre-qualifying to North Carolina State’s Sanaa Bhambri and Sandhya Nagaraj (8-6).
With the loss, there will be no Gators participating in the qualifying rounds of doubles.
