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Hiltzik, Koepfer, & Shane into semis in Waco

by | Dec 2, 2016 | Blog

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Three of the four semifinalists in Waco just finished up their college eligibility in May but they felt right at home on Thursday on the indoor courts at Baylor University in the $25K USA F39 Futures. Ryan Shane, who won the 2015 NCAA Singles Championship on these same indoor courts, advanced to his first semifinal since Tallahassee last December after defeating the second seed Tim Van Rijthoven in straight sets. Shane started off the match by fighting off four break points and holding in a seven-deuce game (won’t see that in college tennis) and then followed that up by breaking for an early 2-0 lead. Van Rijthoven came back and took five of the next six games but Shane held and then broke for 5-5 after Van Rijthoven had three set points up 40/0. Shane held for 6-5 and then went up 0/40 on Van Rijthoven’s serve but he couldn’t get the break and off to a tiebreak it went.

Shane jumped out to a 5-1* lead in the tiebreak and he eventually closed it out 7-5. In the second set Shane fell behind 4-2 but he broke and held to even it at 4-4. After back-to-back love holds, Shane broke from 15/40 and then served out the match from 40/30 to win it 7-6(5), 7-5.
 
Dominik Koepfer and Jared Hiltzik will meet for the fifth time in the last five months after each won their quarterfinal matches. Koepfer came back from a set down to defeat the top seed Cameron Norrie in three sets while Hiltzik got past his former Illinois teammate Aleks Vukic in straight sets.   
 
Quarterfinals
[8] Dominik Koepfer (GER/Tulane ’16) def. [1] Cameron Norrie (GBR/TCU Jr) 2-6, 6-3, 6-2
Jared Hiltzik (USA/Illinois ’16) def. Aleksandar Vukic (AUS/Illinois Jr) 6-4, 7-6(2)
[5] Luke Bambridge (GBR) def. [4] Dennis Nevolo (USA/Illinois ’12) 6-3, 2-1 ret.
[7] Ryan Shane (USA/Virginia ’16) def. [2] Tim Van Rijthoven (NED) 7-6(5), 7-5
 
Semifinals
[8] Dominik Koepfer (GER/Tulane ’16) vs. Jared Hiltzik (USA/Illinois ’16) – 1:30 p.m. CT
[7] Ryan Shane (USA/Virginia ’16) vs. [5] Luke Bambridge (GBR) – 3:30 p.m. CT
 
Hans Hach will be trying to win his seventh doubles title of the year while Farris Gosea will be seeking his third after the duo cruised past Baylor sophomores Jimmy Bendeck and Johannes Schretter 6-1, 6-1. They will face another team with Baylor ties after Juan Benitez and Julian Lenz defeated TCU juniors Cameron Norrie and Guillermo Nunez 6-3, 7-6(3). 
 
Doubles Semifinals
Juan Benitez (Baylor Soph)/Julian Lenz (Baylor ’16) def. Cameron Norrie (TCU Jr)/Guillermo Nunez (TCU Jr) 6-3, 7-6(3)
[2] Farris Gosea (Illinois ’15)/Hans Hach (Abilene Christian ’13) def. Jimmy Bendeck (Baylor Soph)/Johannes Schretter (Baylor Soph) 6-1, 6-1
 
Finals
[2] Farris Gosea (Illinois ’15)/Hans Hach (Abilene Christian ’13) vs. Juan Benitez (Baylor Soph)/Julian Lenz (Baylor ’16) – 6:00 p.m. CT
 
 
 
I’ll have more information on Friday evening on the Master’U BNP Paribas which began on Friday morning.