OMAHA, Neb. – The Omaha men's tennis team opened its fall season last weekend as it competed at the Drake Invitational in Des Moines, Iowa. In addition, sophomore
Razvan Grigorescu competed at the Oracle ITA Masters Tournament in Malibu, Calif.
Marko Minic won his flight at the Drake Invitational. Minic opened with a straight-set win over North Dakota's Eden Mrozek 6-1, 6-2. He then stopped Mason Bultje of Gustavus Adolphus 7-5, 6-1. In the championship, Minic faced Creighton's Joe Hoff. Hoff took the first set 6-2, while Minic won the second set 6-3 and the tiebreaker 10-8.
Nathan Reekie reached the finals in his flight. Reekie won his first two matches over Drake's Barnaby Thorold and Creighton's Brooks Kendall in split sets. In the semifinals, he made quick work of Gustavus Adolphus' Mohanad Alhouni 6-2, 6-1. Reekie then lost a split set decision to Tulsa's Joshua Goodger in the finals 6-3, 3-6, 0-1 (2).
Abdoul Ouattara won his flight's consolation bracket. Ouattara lost his opening match to Goodger 4-6, 6-4, 0-1 (4). In the consolation round, he stopped Zach Ekstein of Gustavus Adolphus in straight sets. Ouattara then defeated Tom Hands of Drake (6-4, 7-6) and Louis-Philippe Hamel of Northern Illinois (6-4, 6-3) to close out the tournament.
Ouattara and
Alex Woodward reached the finals in Flight 'A' Doubles. The duo cruised by teams from North Dakota (6-1) and Northwest Missouri State (6-2) to reach the semifinals. Ouattara and Woodward won a tight match against Gustavus Adolphus' Ekstein and Yassine Derbani 6-4. Drake's Hands and Ben Wood stopped the Omaha pair in the finals 6-1.
Grigorescu finished 0-2 at the Oracle ITA Masters Tournament over the weekend. In the opening round, he fell to No. 4 see/d Michael Geerts of Arizona State 6-1, 6-4. Then Grigorescu dropped a split set decision to No. 20 seed Alexandr Cozbinov of UNLV 6-4, 3-6, 3-6.
The Mavericks return to the courts this weekend when they compete at the Bluejay Invitational in Omaha and the ITA Men's All-American Championships in Tulsa, Okla.
