University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
All-American Championship
Smith Advances to Quarterfinals at All-American
October 09, 2009 | Men's Tennis
Oct. 9, 2009
Tennessee junior John-Patrick Smith earned two more victories over ranked opponents Friday to reach the quarterfinals at the ITA All-American Championships in Tulsa, Okla.
In doubles, Smith and junior teammate Boris Conkic won in their second match and also progressed to the quarterfinals.
Smith, the No. 2 player nationally, defeated No. 57 Kallim Stewart of UCLA in the second round 6-1, 6-4. A few hours later, he won his third-round match 6-3, 6-4 over No. 14 Michael Shabaz of Virginia.
Smith has won seven consecutive matches -- one shy of tying his career best -- and has improved his season record to 8-1. He faces Tulsa's Ashley Watling in the quarterfinals Saturday.
Conkic, who lost in the first round Thursday, won his first consolation draw match 7-6, 6-4 against No. 29 Reid Carleton of Duke. Conkic dropped his second match to Kutrovsky 6-3, 6-4.
"Boris was very resilient today," Tennessee associate head coach Chris Woodruff said. "He lost his first-round match yesterday but came back to earn a solid win against a good Duke opponent this morning. And once again, J.P. showed why he's one of the best players in college tennis."
Smith and Conkic, playing in their second career match as a doubles team, defeated No. 18 Sebastian Carlsson and Neal Skupski of LSU 8-6 in the second round. Smith and Conkic trailed 6-3 early in the match but rallied to win five consecutive games.
"We definitely showed improvement in doubles this morning compared to our first-round match yesterday," Woodruff said.
The Tennessee duo plays Texas' Dimitar Kutrovsky and Josh Zavala, the 13-ranked team, in the quarterfinals.
Players Mentioned
