Box Score LAKELAND, Fla. – Miguel Bretag's opening-round upset of the tournament's top seed highlighted the Eckerd men's tennis team's performance at the ITA South Regional, hosted by Florida Southern on October 16-18.
Bretag opened singles competition with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Rollins' Lawson Prather, the No. 1 seed in the draw. Prather entered the tournament following a decorated freshman campaign in which he earned ITA National Rookie of the Year, ITA All-American, ITA South Region Rookie of the Year, and Sunshine State Conference Freshman of the Year honors. He also reached as high as No. 6 in the ITA national singles rankings and posted a 15-6 singles record last season.
Bretag's run ended in the round of 32 with a 6-1, 6-2 setback to Lee's Oliver Wilcox.
Mario Kirkov also advanced to the round of 32 following a three-set victory over West Alabama's Augustin Fliche. After dropping the opening set 4-6, Kirkov rallied to take the second 6-3 before claiming the deciding tiebreaker 10-8. Kirkov's tournament concluded against Embry-Riddle's Manuel Lanteri, retiring due to injury in the second set.
Amerigo Ambrosi and Amirali Ghavam also represented the Tritons in singles competition. Ambrosi fell to Florida Southern's Youssef Elshafei, while Ghavam dropped his opening match to Barry's Antonin Chapuis. Both later competed in the consolation draw.
In doubles action, Bretag teamed with Ambrosi for an 8-5 opening-round victory over Rollins' Kristoffer Dalbak and Pietro Cappellaro. The duo advanced to the round of 16 before falling 8-3 to West Alabama's Matias Iturbe and Kuzma Gomziakov.
Ghavam and Kirkov dropped their opening doubles contest to Embry-Riddle's Marc Mail and Enrico Rosellini, 8-3. The tandem advanced in the consolation bracket following an injury retirement by Barry's Loup Alleno and Cooper Dillon. Their ensuing match against Rollins was canceled due to rain.
The tournament concluded the Tritons' competition at the ITA South Regional and for the fall season.
