Ross and men's tennis excel at Virginia
By Ed Dziedzic
Old Gold and Black Reporter

The Wake Forest men's tennis team traveled to Charlottesville, Va., this past weekend to compete in the inaugural Virginia Invitational. The tournament included 128 players from 14 different schools around the country. Nine Deacons competed and fared well in singles and doubles matches, during the three-day tournament.

Wake Forest set out to dominate the tournament on the first day by going undefeated in doubles action and sending five players to the quarterfinals of their respective flights. Seniors Trent Brendon and Mike Murray, juniors Brian Murphy and Andrew Simpson, and freshman Brent Ross all advanced.

Brendon easily handled his first two opponents in the second singles flight. He defeated Jeff French from Louisville 6-3, 6-2 and then went on to oust Kyle Bailey from American 6-3, 6-0.

Brendon won a hard-fought match in the quarterfinals against Virginia's Darrin Cohen 0-6, 7-6, 6-0. In the semis he thwarted Michael Ray Pallares' from Alabama 6-4, 6-4. Pallares Alabama teammate Christian Brodersen enacted revenge, defeating Brendon in the finals 6-0, 5-7, 6-3.

Also competing in second singles was senior Mike Murray. In the first round, Murray won in straight sets defeating Nebraska's Cesar Vargas, 6-3, 6-3. Murray struggled a bit in the first set of the second round dropping it 3-6 to Victor Koczan from Charleston Southern. He then stormed back to win the match by taking the next two sets in a convincing fashion 6-0, 6-2. "This was an example of the experience that is such a positive attribute of the team," Coach Jeff Zinn said. Pallares ended Murray's run in the quarterfinals.

Murphy, Ross and Simpson all competed in the third singles fight for the Deacs. It took Murphy three sets to finish off Tres Jones from Iowa 5-7, 6-3, 6-4. He then defeated Brian Friedman from Alabama 6-4, 7-6. Simpson had a first-round bye and then downed Mike Downing from Virginia 6-2, 6-2. In the quarters he blanked Liberty's Ernesto Malagrino 6-0, 6-0. William Boyles from Alabama also was no match to Simpson.

The story of the tournament for Wake Forest was true freshman Brett Ross from Roswell, Ga. He won both of his first day matches in straight sets on his way to winning the entire third singles flight. In the first round he overpowered Adel Abbas from Virginia Tech 6-4, 6-4 and in the second round overcame Kenan Bell from Liberty 6-1, 6-4. Ross said, "Coming into the weekend I felt a little shaky, but as each match went on I worked my way into it." Ross disposed of Old Dominion's Salman Mohammad in the quarterfinals 6-2, 3-6, 6-2. He was then set to meet teammate Murphy in the semifinals.

Ross defeated the elder Murphy 7-6, default in the match. He met a different teammate in the finals, this time it was Simpson who Ross defeated 6-3, 6-3.

The self-assured freshman said, "Now that I have settled into college life I feel like my game is getting stronger everyday. After practicing for a month with the team I feel very confident in my game. I have been training hard and feel strong." Ross's hard work will be rewarded when he jumps up to play second singles this weekend in the Wake Forest Fall Invitational.

In other action, junior David Loewenthal, after losing his first round match on Friday, won his next four and captured the consolation title. Ross and his partner Derrick Spice finished second in their doubles flight.

The fall tournament season continues as the Deacs will host the Wake Forest Fall Invitational Sept. 28-29 at either Leighton Stadium or the Wake Forest Indoor Tennis Center, weather permitting.