Kansas City
No. 4 Fort Wayne
?Roos Advance to Final with 5-1 Victory, Fleming Breaks Record
4/26/2013 4:11:00 PM | Men's Tennis
(Fort Wayne, Ind.) – Kansas City men's tennis got a big doubles point and used that momentum to secure a 5-1 semifinal round victory on Friday at the Summit League Championships, advancing to the final on Saturday. UMKC did it without all-conference performer Tomas Patino, got hurt this week and is unable to play in the tourney.
The top-seeded 'Roos (12-10) tallied an 8-3 win at the No. 3 doubles spot, but were trailing in each of the other two matches. IPFW (9-17) staved off UMKC at the No. 2 spot to take a 9-7 win, but seniors Grant Fleming and Abdul Alawadhi teamed for a big comeback at No. 1, taking it to a tiebreak, staving off a match point, and eventually winning 9-8 (8-6). Alawadhi stepped in to Patino's spot for the contest.
“They only had like three days to practice together,” Head Coach Kendell Hale said of his No. 1 pair. “That says a lot about them and the senior leadership we had today.”
The 'Roos felt that without Patino, they needed to grab the doubles point to have a chance to defend their conference title.
“The doubles point was everything,” Fleming said. “That carried all the momentum into singles. We were down match points, we were up match points and finally we won it 8-6 in a tiebreaker, that was huge.”
In singles play, Kansas City got off to a slow start in a few of its matches, but quickly recovered. Senior Tim Akhmedov got UMKC on the board with a huge win at No. 5 in straight sets, followed by a straight set win from Alawadhi (his ninth in a row) a couple minutes later to make it 3-0.
“The seniors are pouring everything they have into these matches, and the rest of the guys are catching the fever so it's really been fun to watch,” Hale said of Akhmedov's win. “Knowing Tim, it really helped these other seniors to pull their matches out, so it was a huge motivation for us.”
The final point was hard to come by, but Fleming helped the squad feel at ease after taking his first set at No. 3 in a tiebreaker. He cruised in the second set though, and got the match-clinching point. Seconds later, Nino Hasandedic completed a comeback at No. 1 after dropping the first set 6-0. Just seconds after that, IPFW picked up a win at the fourth spot; officials then called it.
Fleming not only clinched the dual, but he became the all-time wins leader at UMKC history in the process. It was win No. 49 in his three-year career, passing Craig Gansen and Gustavo Guerin. It was also his 18th win of the season, matching Serge Ristivojevic's single season mark. The win was Fleming's sixth in a row.
The 'Roos will play at 9:00 a.m. CT on Saturday against the winner of the South Dakota State and IUPUI match that takes place later on Friday.
Kansas City 5, IPFW 1
Apr 23, 2013 at Fort Wayne, Ind. (Dr. Rudy and Rhonda Kachmann Tennis Cent)
| Singles competition |
| 1. Nino Hasandedic (UMKC) def. Daniel Kang (IPFW) 0-6, 6-4, 6-4 |
| 2. Abdul Alawadhi (UMKC) def. Connor Andrews (IPFW) 6-4, 6-1 |
| 3. Grant Fleming (UMKC) def. Andres Cobos (IPFW) 7-6 (8-6), 6-2 |
| 4. Joao Freitas (IPFW) def. Andrey Smirnov (UMKC) 1-6, 6-2, 6-4 |
| 5. Tim Akhmedov (UMKC) def. Martin Muadi (IPFW) 6-3, 6-1 |
| 6. Conner Edwards (UMKC) vs. Gerard Guell (IPFW) 6-7 (6-8), 2-4, unfinished |
| Doubles competition |
| 1. Grant Fleming/Abdul Alawadhi (UMKC) def. Daniel Kang/Joao Freitas (IPFW) 9-8 (8-6) |
| 2. Connor Andrews/Martin Muadi (IPFW) def. Conner Edwards/David Heckler (UMKC) 9-7 |
| 3. Tim Akhmedov/Nino Hasandedic (UMKC) def. Andres Cobos/Jonathan Raa (IPFW) 8-3 |
| Match Notes |
| IPFW 9-17 |
| Kansas City 12-10 |
| Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (2,5,3,1,4) |
| First Semifinal of the 2013 Summit League Tournament |
Players Mentioned
