Artem Gramma Records Highest Finish for Pacific, Falls in Singles Semifinals
Oct. 5, 2008
Fresno, Calif. - Despite a four-hour rain delay in the Fresno State Bulldog Classic on Saturday morning, play resumed at noon to put a stop to the Tigers' run in the tournament when all Pacific competitors were eliminated by the end of the day on Oct. 4. Kicking off the second day of action, the only players still alive in each of the quarterfinal rounds were senior Moritz Starke (Bamberg, Germany) in the `A' Singles, sophomore Artem Gramma (Krivoj Roj, Ukraine) in `B' Singles and freshman Christian Kuehne (Morbach, Germany) rounded out the field in the `C' Singles. Top-seeded Gramma was the only player able to find success on Saturday for Pacific, and moved on to the semifinals by virtue of an efficient 6-0, 6-2 sweep of University of San Diego's Jose Munoz. Though Gramma turned in the best finish of the day for his team, his success ended there after falling 7-5, 1-6, 6-4 to Flavio Molliendo of host university, Fresno State. Starke and Kuehne were each on the wrong end of a sweep in the `A' and `C' Singles Quarterfinals, respectively. The final hope of the day to keep Pacific alive in the tournament rested in doubles' play, as Keuhne and Starke were the only tandem alive in the second day of play. In the `A' Doubles round Keuhne/Starke ultimately shared Gramma's woes during the quarterfinals when they also fell to the host university, in Remi Boutillier and Rikus DeVilliers (8-3). Play in the Bulldog Classic will resume one final day, with the remaining semifinals and final rounds set for Sunday, Oct. 5. Due to the early losses, Pacific went home and will next prepare for the ITA Regional Tournament beginning Oct. 17 in Berkeley, Calif.
Results:
Bulldog Classic B Singles Quarterfinals (1) Artem Gramma (PAC) def. Jose Munoz (USD): 6-0, 6-2
Semifinals
Bulldog Classic C Singles
Bulldog Classic A Doubles |
 
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