Oct. 4, 2011
Tulsa, Okla. – Georgia Tech’s Kevin King and Juan Melian Puigventos each earned second-round wins Tuesday in the ITA All-American Championships qualifying tournament, and need just one more win Wednesday to join teammate Juan Spir in the main draw. King, a senior from Peachtree City, Ga., ranked 85th in the nation, eased past Raphael Hemmeler of Duke, 6-4, 6-1 Tuesday, and will face Gonzalez Austin of Vanderbilt, a 6-4, 7-6 winner over Alex Stamchev of Auburn, in Wednesday’s third round.
Melian Puigventos, a junior transfer from Georgia Southern who is ranked 97th, was blanked in the first set, but rallied to take out Texas A&M’s Alberto Bautista, 0-6, 7-5, 6-1. He will face Charlie Jones of Vanderbilt, a 6-2, 7-5 victor over Romain Boceart of South Alabama, on Wednesday.
The ITA qualifying draw has 128 players competing for 16 spots in the 64-player main draw, which begins Thursday. Spir, a junior ranked 34th in the nation, received entry into the main draw by his national ranking.
Melian Puigventos was not as fortunate in the qualifying draw in doubles, where he was paired with senior teammate Dusan Miljevic. They had a bye in Tuesday’s opening round and lost their second-round match Tuesday afternoon, 9-7, to Ulrik Thomsen and Alexander van Gils of George Washington.
