Oct. 7, 2008

Tennessee sophomores Boris Conkic and Matteo Fago won twice in doubles Tuesday and are one win away from advancing to the 32-team doubles main draw at the ITA All-American Championships in Tulsa, Okla.

The UT duo defeated Alex Ahlgren and Enrique Olivares of ETSU in the first round of qualifying, 8-6. In the second round, Conkic and Fago faced 35th-ranked Kean Feeder and Clancy Shields of Boise State. The match ultimately ended up in a tiebreaker, which the UT duo dominated to advance to the third and final round of qualifying. The UT sophomores face TCU's 40th-ranked tandem of Kriegler Brink and Zach Nichols Wednesday. The winner of the match is in the main draw.

Conkic could not duplicate his doubles success in singles as the Serbia native fell to Bradley Khan of Stanford in three sets. Conkic lost the first set but won the second set in a tiebreaker to force a third and final set. In the final set, Klahn was able to get up a break and Conkic could not get recover, falling 6-4, 6-7, 6-4.

In consolation singles action, Davey Sandgren defeated David Simson of Denver, 6-3, 6-4. UT netters Fago and Christian Hansen were not as fortunate as both players fell to ranked foes.

Wednesday marks the final day of qualifying for the main draw. The main draw begins Thursday. John-Patrick Smith, ranked 10th in singles, will be the only Vol in the 64-man singles field. The doubles main draw also begins on Thursday. Smith and Sandgren are one of the 24 teams already safely in the field. Conkic and Fago can join their teammates in the 32-team field if they are one of the eight doubles winners on Wednesday.

2008 D'Novo Men's All-American Championship

Singles Qualifying - Second Round
Bradley Klahn (Stan) def. No. 55 Boris Conkic (UT) 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-4

Doubles Qualifying - First Round
Conkic/Fago (UT) def. Ahlgren/Olivares (ETSU) 8-6

Doubles Qualifying - Second Round
Conkic/Fago (UT) def. No. 35 Feeder/Shields (BSU) 9-8

Consolation Singles
Davey Sandgren (UT) def. David Simson (Den) 6-3, 6-4
No. 65 Omar Altmann (Pepp) def. Christian Hansen (UT) 6-3, 6-1
No. 83 Andrea Carrasco (Ariz) def. No. 117 Matteo Fago (UT) 2-6, 7-5, (10-6)