Over the past week Chris Surapol has proven that the hype
surrounding his improved play is no joke and should be taken quite
seriously. At the ITA West Regionals, the Bruin senior made yet
another impressive run deep into the tournament draw, this time
making it to the finals, where he was ousted by hometown favorite
Andre Begemann of Pepperdine 6-3, 7-6. “If I had played the
way I had during the rest of the tournament, the result
could’ve been different, but tennis is a game of inches and I
just couldn’t seem to execute on big points,” Surapol
said. Surapol was by no means taken by surprise though, knowing
that Begemann had eliminated his teammate and No. 1 seed Benjamin
Kohlloeffel in the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 6-4 win. “I knew
what to expect,” Surapol said. “I had my chances and I
just couldn’t convert. It was just one of those days.”
Prior to the final, Surapol, the No. 2 seed, had dropped just one
set and was coming off a championship win over teammates Mathieu
Dehaine and Jeremy Drean in the doubles draw with partner
Kohlloeffel. By making it to the finals of both events, Surapol has
earned a wild card into both the singles and doubles draws at the
ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships.
“I’ve been working on a few things here and there and
I’m just trying to get my game to the next level,”
Surapol said.
WOMEN’S TENNIS: Surapol was not the only
Bruin out to prove a point this past weekend as freshman Yasmin
Schnack had an objective of her own in the women’s draw of
the ITA West Regionals hosted by San Diego State. Schnack, entering
the tournament as the No. 13 seed, found herself down a set to
third-seeded Dianne Matias of USC in the Round of 16, before making
a comeback that put her into the quarterfinals, along with four of
her Bruin counterparts. “I just changed it up in the second
set,” Schnack said. “I either mixed the ball up or I
was more consistent and it ended up working.” After pulling
out a 7-5, 7-5 victory over Holly Bagshaw of San Diego State,
Schnack was pitted against sophomore teammate Ashley Joelson who
had just defeated another Bruin, senior Alex McGoodwin 6-2, 6-4. On
the brink of elimination yet again, the freshman maintained her
composure to win two consecutive sets and the match, 5-7, 6-2, 6-0,
before advancing to the final where she met USC’s Sarah
Fansler. “It kind of sucked having to play Ashley because
she’s one of my teammates and you want to be nice,”
Schnack said. “I was trying to be calm and not get too pumped
up in front of her.” On Monday, Schnack’s unexpected
run came to a halt as she fell to the Trojan in the all-freshman
final 6-1, 6-4. Just as Surapol did with his appearance in the
final, Schnack earned a wild card into the singles draw of the ITA
National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships. “I’m
really excited about that and I can’t wait to play
there,” Schnack added.
INJURY UPDATE: Sophomore Haythem Abid was
forced to withdraw from the ITA West Regionals because of pain in
his back. Abid, the No. 6 seed, had won two consecutive matches
while playing through the pain, but could bear it no longer in his
Round of 16 match when he retired after playing just one game
against Reyniere Roxas of Loyola Marymount.