All-Bruin Singles Final Highlights Universal Tennis College Circuit at Belmont

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Returning to fall tournament play, the Belmont University men's tennis team hosted a Universal Tennis College Circuit event at the Belmont Tennis Complex over the weekend and excelled in the top singles draw. Junior Alfred Wallin and sophomore Ian Cruz reached the navy singles draw championship after both won four consecutive matches.
 
Six Bruins combined to win 13 total singles matches in the 30-man draw that featured current and former collegiate tennis players from around the nation and a few of the region's top juniors. Belmont was represented in three of the four semifinal spots as graduate student Marko Ilic claimed three-straight wins.
 
In the doubles draw, which including 15 doubles pairs, sophomore Drake transfer Gabriel Sardo and senior Jack Randall reached the semifinals while juniors Niklas von Hellens and Riccardo Trione won their round of 16 match.
 
Winning all his rounds in straight sets, Wallin defeated Tennessee State's Daniel Pérez Caraballo 6-4, 6-1 in the round of 32 before topping Memphis' Sam Edgar 6-4, 6-2. In the quarterfinals, Wallin edged Middle Tennessee's Ondrej Horak in back-to-back tiebreak sets. Taking a 7-2 first set tiebreak, Wallin gutted out the set two breaker, 12-10. He finished off the weekend with a convincing 6-4, 6-2 semifinal win over Hank Trondson.
 
Cruz' path to the finals saw much more resistance as he battled through consecutive three-set affairs after dismissing Tennessee State's Diego Britt-Alvarez in the first round. In the round of 16, Cruz edged the Blue Raiders' Shu Matsuoka 6-3, 2-6, 1-0 (12-10) before getting past Middle Tennessee's Pavel Motl in the quarters. After winning the first set in a 7-2 tiebreaker, Cruz rebounded from a 6-2 second set loss by capturing the super tiebreaker 10-4. Cruz defeated teammate Ilic 6-4, 6-4 in the semifinals.
 
Ilic began the tournament with a pair of 6-2 set wins against Tennessee Tech's Jaime Paquet in the round of 32, before taking out former University of San Francisco No. 1 Nitzan Ricklis 6-4, 7-5 in the round of 16. In the quarters, Ilic scored a three-set win over former University of Tennessee Volunteer and current Memphis Tiger Conor Gannon. Despite being blanked in the second set tiebreak after winning the opening set 6-4, Ilic recovered by taking the third set super tiebreaker, 10-7.
 
Both von Hellens and Sardo won round of 32 singles matches. Rebounding from a 6-0 set two loss after taking the first set 6-2, von Hellens gritted out a 10-8 set three super tiebreaker against the Golden Eagles' Pol Masafret Hernandez. Von Hellens nearly reached the quarters but was barely edged by Trondson 12-10 in another third set super tiebreaker in the round of 16.
 
Sardo got past Lipscomb's Maksim Bogdanovich in three sets, 7-5, 1-6, 1-0 (10-4), in the first round before falling to Gannon 6-4, 7-5 in the round of 16.
 
The tandem of Sardo and Randall earned back-to-back 6-3 doubles victories to reach the semifinals, defeating Christopher Bogelin and Adler Germinal in the round of 16 and Tennessee State's Britt-Alvarez and Pierre Copin in the quarters before being halted by Middle Tennessee's Horak and Matsuoka 6-2.
 
The duo of von Hellens and Arkansas transfer Trione took out Wolf Sohlberg and Juozas Cioladis 6-4 in the round of 16 before succumbing 6-4 to Ricklis and former Alabama team member Vincent Rettke in the doubles quarterfinal.
 
The Blue Raiders' Horak and Matsuoka took the doubles title with a 6-4 win over Ricklis and Rettke.
 
The Universal Tennis College Circuit is a new series of open, tiered prize money tournaments hosted on college campuses. Universal Tennis runs the Universal Tennis Ratings (UTR), powered by Oracle, which is a global rating system that promotes fair and competitive play across the tennis world.
 
Saturday's Results
R32 – Alfred Wallin (Belmont) def. Daniel Pérez Caraballo (Tennessee State) 6-4, 6-1
R32 – Niklas von Hellens (Belmont) def. Pol Masafret Hernandez (Tennessee Tech) 6-2, 0-6, 1-0 (10-8)
R32 – Ruben Busch (Tennessee Wesleyan) def. Riccardo Trione (Belmont) 6-3, 6-4
R32 – Ian Cruz (Belmont) def. Diego Britt-Alvarez (Tennessee State) 6-2, 6-4
R32 – Marko Ilic (Belmont) def. Jaime Paquet (Tennessee Tech) 6-2, 6-2
R32 – Gabriel Sardo (Belmont) def. Pol Masafret Hernandez (Tennessee Tech) 7-5, 1-6, 1-0 (10-4)
R16 – Alfred Wallin (Belmont) def. Sam Edgar (Memphis) 6-4, 6-2
R16 – Hank Trondson def. Niklas von Hellens (Belmont) 4-6, 6-3, 1-0 (12-10)
R16 – Ian Cruz (Belmont) def. Shu Matsuoka (Middle Tennessee) 6-3, 2-6, 1-0 (12-10)
R16 – Marko Ilic (Belmont) def. Nitzan Ricklis 6-4, 7-5
R16 – Conor Gannon (Memphis) def. Gabriel Sardo (Belmont) 6-4, 7-5
 
Sunday's Results
QF – Alfred Wallin (Belmont) def. Ondrej Horak (Middle Tennessee) 7-6 (2), 7-6 (10)
QF – Ian Cruz (Belmont) def. Pavel Motl (Middle Tennessee) 7-6 (2), 2-6, 1-0 (10-4)
QF – Marko Ilic (Belmont) def. Conor Gannon (Memphis) 6-4, 6-7 (0), 1-0 (10-7)
SF – Alfred Wallin (Belmont) def. Hank Trondson 6-4, 6-2
SF – Ian Cruz (Belmont) def. Marko Ilic (Belmont) 6-4, 6-4
Consolation R16 – Taj Hibbert (Tennessee State) def. Riccardo Trione (Belmont) 6-4, 6-3
Doubles
R16 – Gabriel Sardo/Jack Randall (Belmont) def. Christopher Bogelin/Adler Germinal 6-3
R16 – Niklas von Hellens/Riccardo Trione (Belmont) def. Wolf Sohlberg/Juozas Cioladis 6-4
QF – Gabriel Sardo/Jack Randall (Belmont) def. Diego Britt-Alvarez/Pierre Copin (Tennessee State) 6-3
QF – Nitzan Ricklis/Vincent Rettke def. Niklas von Hellens/Riccardo Trione (Belmont) 6-4
 
Monday's Results
Doubles
SF – Ondrej Horak/Shu Matsuoka (Middle Tennessee) def. Gabriel Sardo/Jack Randall (Belmont) 6-2
 
Up Next
The Bruins head to Louisville, Kentucky, Thursday for the 2022 ITA (Intercollegiate Tennis Association) Ohio Valley Regional Championships. Hosted by the University of Louisville, the five-day tournament is being held Thursday-Monday, Oct. 13-17 at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center.
 
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