PENSACOLA, Fla. - University of New Orleans men's tennis player
Abdelrahman Zaki won the men's singles 'B' flight competition to highlight
UNO's performance at the West Florida Fall Fling over the weekend.
Zaki defeated teammate Hossam Meligy by a 6-1, 6-4 score to claim the
championship. Zaki's championship is the first fall invitational win for a
Privateer since Calvin Kemp and Guilherme Rebolo won the doubles' championship at the same tournament.
To reach the final, Zaki dispatched J.P. Walker of Eckerd and Bryant Anglin
of Abraham Baldwin in straight sets to reach the quarterfinals.
The quarterfinals proved to be a tough test for the Egyptian, who
rallied from a set down to defeat Jimmy Martineau of West Florida 3-6, 6-4,
10-6. Zaki defeated Anton Krutkin of Alcorn State in the semifinals to advance
to the finals.
Meligy had quite the run himself. Making his collegiate debut, Meligy
defeated independent player Alex Fish and Spring Hill's Chris Link in straight
sets before fending off Luis Felipe Sperd of West Florida 6-3, 4-6, 10-3.
The win over Sperd set up a semifinal showdown against Yanick
Shearon-Hawkins, won by Meligy, who then advanced to face fellow Egyptian
countryman Zaki in the final.
In doubles' play, Zaki teamed with Vinay Kamineni to reach the
semifinals of the lone doubles' flight by beating two independent duos before
falling to a third in a pro-set tiebreaker 9-8. The independent players comprised of former
collegiate players and current coaches from around the Pensacola area.
On the women's side, Kristina Martic had the top showing by reaching
the semifinals of the 'B' singles flight.
Martic defeated Alcorn's Merlin Tipp 6-3, 6-1 in the first round before
getting past UWF's Juliana Costa 6-4, 6-4 in the second round. A
come-from-behind win over Isabel Brito of Southeastern La. 4-6, 6-4, 10-4 proceeded
a loss to No. 2 seed Naomi Higa in the semifinals by a 6-4, 6-1 result.
Martic's teammates - Sofija Karalic and Kozue Matusmoto - made it to
the quarterfinals of the 'B' flight.
Seeded No. 1, Matusmoto won 6-0, 6-0 over Spring Hill's Maggie Leads
and Kodi Bobo of Montevallo before getting stopped in a 6-4, 6-7, 10-8 thriller
by McNeese State's Tea Trtkovic.
Karalic opened with a 7-5, 6-4 win over SLU's Mia Hagiu and followed it
with a super-tiebreaker win over Jacqueline March by a 7-5, 2-6, 10-7 score.
Karalic ended up falling 6-1, 2-6, 10-5 to UWF's Jessica Hsu
The UWF Fall Fling wraps up the fall competition for the Privateers.
The UNO men will begin their 2011 spring season against national power Texas
A&M on Jan. 29 with the women hosting Kennesaw State on Jan. 28.
UWF FALL FLING RESULTS - UNO only
Independents are players who do
not play for a four-year university
Men's A Singles
1R - Alexander Liozar (Alcorn State) def. Benjamin Bouhana (New
Orleans) 6-1, 1-6, 10-5
1R - Ben Smith (New Orleans) def. Lukas Larsson (West Florida) 6-0,
6-7, 10-8
2R - #4 Vinay Kamineni (New Orleans) def. Scott Baehr (Independent),
walkover
2R - Roy Knight (Nicholls) def. Ben Smith (New Orleans) 6-3, 6-2
QF - J.C. Tolentino (Independent) def. #4 Vinay Kamineni (New Orleans)
6-2, 6-2
Men's A Singles Consolation
1R - Connor Bono (Coastal Georgia) def. Benjamin Bouhana (New Orleans),
no result reported
Men's B Singles
1R - Hossam Meligy (New Orleans) def. Alex Fish (Independent), no
result reported
1R - Abdelrahman Zaki (New Orleans) def. J.P. Walker (Eckerd) 6-3, 6-2
1R - Anton Krutkin (Alcorn State) def. Rohit Chivukula, no result
reported
1R - Joshua Marx (New Orleans) def. Billy Griffin (Abraham Baldwin) 6-7, 7-6, 10-4
2R - Hossam Meligy (New Orleans) def. Chris Link (Spring Hill) 6-1, 6-0
2R - Abdelrahman Zaki (New Orleans) def. Bryant Anglin (Abraham
Baldwin) 6-0, 6-2
2R - Yanick Shearon-Hawkins (Alcorn
State) def. Joshua Marx (New Orleans) 6-2, 6-2
QF - Hossam Meligy (New Orleans) def. Luis Felipe Sperb (West Florida)
6-3, 4-6, 10-3
QF - Abdelrahman Zaki (New Orleans) def. Jimmy Martineau (West Florida)
3-6, 6-4, 10-6
SF - Hossam Meligy (New Orleans) def. Yanick Shearon-Hawkins (Alcorn
State), no result reported
SF - Abdelrahman Zaki (New Orleans) def. Anton Krutkin (Alcorn State),
no result reported
Championship - Abdelrahman Zaki (New Orleans) def. Hossam Meligy (New
Orleans) 6-1, 6-4
Men's B Singles' Consolation
1R - Rohit Chivukula (New Orleans) def. Will Amanor (Spring Hill) 8-0
QF - Eric Thunberg (Eckerd) def. Rohit Chivukula (New Orleans) 6-1, 6-3
Men's Doubles
1R - Abdelrahman Zaki/Vinay Kamineni (New Orleans) def. Gomes/Soni
(Independent) 8-3
1R - Anton Krutkin/Alexander Liozar (Alcorn State) def. Benjamin Bouhana/Ben Smith (New Orleans) 9-8
1R - Derek Racine/Scott Baehr (Independent) def. Hossam Meligy/Rohit Chivukula (New Orleans) no result reported
1R - Adam Hopkins/Eric Thunberg (Eckerd) def. Takashi Koga (Coastal Georgia)/Joshua Marx (New Orleans) 8-4
QF - Abdelrahman Zaki/Vinay Kamineni (New Orleans) def. Jasmin/Victor
Lage (Independent) 9-7
SF - Ferreira/Tolentino (Independent) def. Abdelrahman Zaki/Vinay Kamineni (New Orleans) 9-8
Men's Doubles Consolation
1R - Hossam Meligy/Rohit Chivukula (New Orleans) def. Andrew
Decotis/Will Amanaor (Spring Hill) 8-1
1R - Benjamin Bouhana/Ben Smith
(New Orleans) def. Laurenz Schirapaen/Jamie Childree (Coastal Georgia), no
result reported
1R - El Fadel Ningbinnin/Razvan Cojocaru (Nicholls) def. Takashi Koga (Coastal Georgia)/Joshua Marx (New Orleans) 8-4
QF - Mallory Leighty/Jimmy Martineau (West Florida) def. Hossam Meligy/Rohit Chivukula (New Orleans), no result reported
QF - Taylor Hardy/Derrick Taylor (Abraham Baldwin) def. Benjamin Bouhana/Ben Smith (New Orleans), default
Women's 'B' Singles
1R - #1 Kozue Matsumoto (New Orleans) def. Maggie Leeds (Spring Hill)
6-0, 6-0
1R - Kristina Martic (New Orleans) def. Merlin Tipp (Alcorn State) 6-3,
6-1
1R - Sofija Karalic (New Orleans) def. Mia Hagiu (Southeastern La.)
7-5, 6-4
2R - #1 Kozue Matsumoto (New Orleans) def. Kodi Bobo (Montevallo) 6-0,
6-0
2R - Kristina Martic (New Orleans) def. Juliana Costa (West Florida)
6-4, 6-4
2R - Sofija Karalic (New Orleans) def. Jacqueline March (West Florida)
7-5, 2-6, 10-7
QF - Tea Trtkovic (McNeese State) def. #1 Kozue Matsumoto (New Orleans)
6-4, 6-7, 10-8
QF - Kristina Martic (New Orleans) def. Isabel Brito (Southeastern La.)
4-6, 6-4, 10-4
QF - Jessica Hsu (West Florida) def. Sofija Karalic (New Orleans) 6-1,
2-6, 10-5
SF - #2 Naomi Higa (West Florida) def Kristina Martic (New Orleans)
6-4, 6-1
Women's Doubles
1R - Kozue Matsumoto/Kristina Martic (New Orleans) def. Dias/Schmeid
(Southeastern La.) 8-6
1R - Paulina Ojeda/Naomi Higa (West Florida) def. Sofija Karalic (New
Orleans)/Flojecki 8-2
2R - Paulina Ojeda/Naomi Higa (West Florida) def. Kozue
Matsumoto/Kristina Martic (New Orleans) 8-4
Women's Doubles Consolation
1R - Morgane Dadot/Nina Schmeid (Southeastern La) def. Sofija Karalic
(New Orleans)/Flojecki (Independent) 8-3
