Mississippi State
ITA All-American Championships
Agarwal, Cutura Into Pre-Qualifying Third Round At ITA All-American
September 28, 2014 | Men's Tennis
TULSA, Okla. – A pair of Mississippi State men's tennis Bulldogs will play for a chance to advance to qualifying play after moving on to the third round of pre-qualifying on Saturday at the ITA All-American Championships.
Mate Cutura and Rishab Agarwal earned straight-set wins to advance to the second day of action. They now need only a pair of wins each on Sunday to move on to the next stage of the first collegiate major of the 2014-15 season.
Cutura only needed one win to move into the third round after earning a first-round bye. The MSU junior transfer defeated Andres Alban of the New Jersey Institute of Technology in dominating fashion, 6-2, 6-2. He now faces Ohio State's Mikael Torpegaard at 9:30 a.m. Sunday.
Not receiving a first-round bye, Agarwal needed two wins on day one and delivered with a pair of sweeps. The Bulldog sophomore downed UT-San Antonio's Juan Moreiras 6-3, 7-6(1) in the opening round and followed it up with a 6-3, 7-5 victory against Valparaiso's Jeffrey Schorsch to move on to day two. He will face Konrad Zieba of Northwestern, the tournament's 26th seed, at 8:00 a.m.
Two other Bulldogs earned first-round victories, but could not pull through in their second matches. Tassilo Schmid downed Illinois State's Jakub Eisner 6-3, 7-6(3), but fell to 13th-seeded Nick Horton of North Carolina State in a three-set battle, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4. MSU freshman Juan Cruz Estevarena made quick work of South Florida's Vadym Kalyuzhnyy 6-1, 6-3, but fell in the second round to second-seeded Arvis Berzins of Fairleigh Dickinson, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
MSU's fifth member in action on Saturday was Robin Haden, who dropped a tough three-set decision in the opening round to Oregon's Daniel Sardu, 6-7(9), 6-4, 6-4.
Following the conclusion on pre-qualifying play on Sunday, qualifying rounds will get underway on Monday, Sept. 29. Bulldog freshman Julian Cash as draws will be announced following the completion of pre-qualifying action. Cash will also team up with Florian Lakat for doubles play in the qualifying rounds.
Cash and Lakat, along with any Bulldogs that advance into qualifying play on Sunday, will have the opportunity to play their way into main draw action, which starts Thursday, Oct. 2. Lakat, who is ranked 36th nationally, has already earned a selection into the main bracket in singles play.
For more information on Mississippi State men's tennis and updates, fans can follow the Bulldogs on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at HailStateMT.
MSU Results At The ITA All-American Championships
September 27, 2014 – Tulsa, Okla.
Singles – Pre Qualifying
First Round – Tassilo Schmid (MSU) def. Jakub Eisner (Illinois St.) 6-3, 7-6(3); Juan Cruz Estevarena (MSU) def. Vadym Kalyuzhnyy (South Florida) 6-1, 6-3; Rishab Agarwal (MSU) def. Juan Moreiras (UT-San Antonio) 6-3, 7-6(1); Daniel Sardu (Oregon) def. Robin Haden (MSU) 6-7(9), 6-4, 6-4
Second Round – Arvis Berzins (Fairleigh Dickinson) [2] def. Estevarena (MSU) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4; Nick Horton (NC State) [13] def. Schmid (MSU) 6-3, 5-7, 6-4; Mate Cutura (MSU) def. Andres Alban (NJIT) 6-2, 6-2; Agarwal (MSU) def. Jeffrey Schorsch (Valparaiso) 6-3, 7-5
