Top-seeded Bernard Tomic defeated Martin Breysach by the deceptive score of 6-4, 6-3, on Thursday in the second round of the Greenview Development & Majestic Realty Men’s Pro Tennis Open. Tomic’s match at the Texas Tennis Center was nothing like the comfortable victory he achieved by a similar score in the first round. The 30-year-old Australian, pictured above, led Breysach by 4-0 and 5-1 in the first set but needed the extra breaks to close out the set. The second set was also tight before Tomic pulled away in the end.
“This level is tough,” the former top 20 star said about playing in the lower rungs of pro tennis. “I’m still working on my game. I missed a lot of tennis for me. To be back on court winning this many matches, especially now, it’s too good to be true.”
Second-seeded Jack Pinnington Jones beat Tadeas Paroulek, 6-4, 6-3. The TCU freshman picked up early leads in both sets before Paroulek began to hold his own. Pinnington Jones eventually finished the match after a series of dynamic rallies against the powerful Czech.
No. 3 Alexander Cozbinov faltered in the first set but came back to beat Darian King, 5-7, 6-0, 6-4. King broke Cozbinov at 5-6 to take the first set but was broken in the first game of the second set and squandered three break points in the next game. After heated exchanges with the official, King regained some composure but still fell in the third set.
No. 5 Colin Markes, a former Longhorn national champion, cruised to a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Alex Kuperstein. Markes dominated in almost every aspect of the game, leaving Kuperstein unable to get on the scoreboard until 6-0, 2-0. Markes found success by capitalizing on his strong serve and Kuperstein’s mistakes in long rallies. Markes will face Tomic in Friday’s quarterfinals.
Sixth-seeded Andres Andrade rallied past UT Longhorn Siem Woldeab, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. Switching to the offensive, the Ecuadoran found his stride by repeatedly pulling Woldeab forward before taking him out wide with shots down the line.
Christian Sigsgaard, another former Longhorn, defeated Lucas Renard, 6-0, 6-4. After a dominant first set from the 25-year-old Dane, Renard made it more of a match after being down a break early in the second set. Serving at 4-5, Renard saved one match point with an ace but Sigsgaard took the match with an inside out forehand.
In an ersatz Big 12 matchup, Texas junior Micah Braswell defeated TCU freshman Sebastian Gorzny 6-3, 6-3. Braswell used his high energy and collegiate experience to outlast and outplay the junior champion.
Eric Hadigian defeated Demetris Aziodes, 7-6 (1), 6-3. Azoides, who plays for Texas Tech, served for the first set but lost it, giving Hadigian the momentum he needed.
In the doubles quarterfinals, Philip Henning and Tyler Stewart celebrated Henning’s 22nd birthday by defeating Piotr Pawalk and Maciej Rajski, 7-6(4), 6-4, in a tightly contested match.
The Baylor duo Tadeas Paroulek and Zsombor Velcz slipped past Texas A&M’s Tyler Hilderbrand and Noah Schachter 6-4, 4-6, 10-8. Chad Kissell and Joshua Sheehy beat Adrian Oetzbach and George Goldhoff, 6-3, 6-4. Demetris Aziodes and Martin Breysach won by walkover against Gabi Adrian Boitan and Ryan Dickerson.
Story by Ignacio Perez, Aaron Sullivan and Lindsey Plotkin /Photo by Kayla Thompson