University of Tennessee Athletics
Brewer Stopped One Win Shy; All-American Begins Thursday
October 07, 2009 | Men's Tennis
Oct. 7, 2009
Duke's Henrique Cunha halted Tennessee senior Matt Brewer's bid for a spot in the main draw of the ITA All-American Championships, defeating Brewer 6-0, 6-1 in the third round of qualifying Wednesday in Tulsa, Okla.
Tennessee juniors John-Patrick Smith and Boris Conkic, nationally ranked No. 2 and No. 20 respectively, gained automatic bids into the main draw of the All-American, which begins Thursday morning. They will also team up in doubles for the first time.
Brewer had won his first two rounds of qualifying Monday and Tuesday. He defeated Illinois State's Filip Miljevic 6-4, 6-4 and earned a 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 victory over No. 83 Artem Ilyushen of Mississippi State before losing to Cunha.
"Some of the best players in the country are in this tournament, and understandably, some of those players were in the qualifying rounds too," Tennessee head coach Sam Winterbotham said. "I'm proud of what Matt has done the last few days, winning two of his matches. It didn't end the way he hoped, but there's a lot to feel good about."
Brewer had earned a spot in qualifying by finishing runner-up at the ITA/USTA National Summer Championships in August.
Thursday marks the second appearance in the All-American for Smith. He was seeded No. 10 last year and lost in the second round, and he also reached the consolation doubles quarterfinals with teammate Davey Sandgren. Like Brewer, Conkic finished one win away from entering the main draw at the 2008 event.
"Boris and J.P. have played well to get into this draw, and hopefully they'll give themselves an opportunity to do well this week," Winterbotham said.
Smith is 5-1 in singles this season and riding a four-match winning streak after winning his flight of the UVA Ranked Plus One Invitational on Sept. 27 in Charlottesville, Va. Winning against talented competition is nothing new to Smith; more than half of his 72 career victories have come against ranked players. He defeated No. 29 Reid Carleton of Duke in the championship match at the UVa Invitational to record his 40th career win against ranked opponents.
Conkic is also 5-1 this season. He has improved his career record to 62-15, and his winning percentage of .805 ranks fourth all-time at UT. Conkic played at the No. 2 singles position for the Vols last season and has an 18-11 record against ranked competition.
Players Mentioned
