Oct. 3, 2011

UTC Fall Classic Final Draws

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Cedric De Zutter and Daniel Shidler finished second in their respective singles divisions over the weekend at the Baras UTC Fall Classic. De Zutter lost to Marin Lucas of South Florida 6-2, 6-2 in the finals of the Blue (Championship) Flight, while Shidler fell to Rogerio Riberio of ETSU 5-7, 6-4, 7-5 in the finals of the Gold (Second) Flight.

"We had a great weekend where all of our guys put themselves in position to win every match," Memphis assistant coach Mark Finnegan said. "We just didn't quite close out some of the matches we wanted to win."

De Zutter opened the Blue Flight as the No. 3 seed and posted a 6-2, 6-2 win over A. Kovalenka of North Alabama in the first round before defeating Louis Theodor from Kennesaw State 6-3, 6-3 in the quarterfinals. He then blew past Juan Carolos Acuna of South Floruda 6-2, 7-5 in the semifinals before losing to Marin in the finals.

"I'm very proud of Cedric," Finnegan said. "He made the final of the fourth flight last season and made the final of the first flight this season, so that's really great improvement."

Shidler posted wins over Felipe Diaz of Jacksonville State (6-1, 6-2), Chris Smith of UT-Chattanooga (6-4, 7-5) and Alex Pena of Kennesaw State (6-3, 1-6, 1-0 (9)) en route to the championship match.

"Daniel did an amazing job in the second flight," Finnegan said. "He was in position to win easily in the third set, but got a little anxious about closing out the set after being up 5-1."

K.C. Griffin also made the final of the consolation flight, but was forced to retire.

"All in all, we made three finals out of four, so it was a very successful trip," Finngegan said.

Grimal Advances

While one group of Tigers was competing in Chattanooga, another was giving it a go at the ITA All-American in Tulsa, Okla. Johnny Grimal, who received a bye in the first round, won three-straight matches in the pre-qualifying stage to advance to the first round of the All-American Championship Monday.

Grimal posted a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Brandon Fickey of Tennessee in the second round and downed Ivan Sanchez Gomez of NC State 2-6, 6-1, 705 in the third round. He then wrapped up the pre-qualifying stage with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 win over Cale Hammond from Duke.