July 4, 2009

It was a perfect day for a pair of University of Tennessee rising junior tennis players at the World University Games in Belgrade, Serbia. John-Patrick Smith was successful on two fronts, posting both a singles and doubles victory, while Boris Conkic earned a doubles triumph.

Smith, who recorded three aces, defeated Phil Stephens of Great Britain, 6-3, 6-4, in a match that took 80 minutes to complete. In round three, the 14th-seeded Smith faces Sweden's Alexander Thams who was a 1-6, 6-4, 6-4, winner over Italy's Pietro Ansaldo.

A round of 16 match on Monday awaits the winner of the Smith-Thams match.

Smith and fellow compatriot John Peers, the No. 6 seed in doubles, easily defeated the Canadian duo of Graeme Kassautzki and Mikhail Lew, 6-2, 6-0. They were one of four seeded teams to advance to the second round. Smith and Peers now face Sweden's Alexander Milles/Alexander Thames who defeated Germany's Mario Eckardt/Klaus Jank, 6-3, 6-4.

Conkic and Serbian partner Aleksander Grubin pulled off one of the four upsets of seeded teams in the doubles draw with a 7-5, 7-5, victory over No. 5 Syrym Abdukhalikov and Maxime Filippov of Kazakhstan.

Conkic and Grubin take on the Hungarian brothers' team of Andreas and Kristian Kuharszky who downed the No. 8-seeded duo from Mexico of Marco Diaz Barriga/Adolfo Soiares, 6-2, 6-4.

Singles Results
(14) John-Patrick Smith (AUS) def. Phil Stephens (GBR) - 6-3, 6-4

Doubles Results
(6) John-Patrick Smith/John Peers (AUS) def. Graeme Kassautzki/Mikhail Lew (CAN) - 6-2, 6-0
Boris Conkic/Aleksander Grubin (SRB) def. (5) Syrym Abdukhalikov/Maxime Filippov (KAZ) - 7-5, 7-5