Oct. 23, 2011
Athens, Ga. – Kevin King defeated Florida’s Nassim Slilan and Georgia’s Sadio Doumbia Sunday to reach the finals of the USTA/ITA Southeast Regional Championships at the Dan Magill Tennis Center. With a win Monday, King will earn a berth in next month’s USTA/ITA National Indoor Championships in Flushing, N.Y.
King, ranked 85th in the nation and seeded sixth in the regional, dropped his only set of the weekend Sunday against the 37th-ranked Slilam, but prevailed, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, and moved on to face the top-seeded Doumbia. The senior from Peachtree City, Ga., routed the 24th-ranked Bulldog senior, 6-0, 6-3.
King will face another Georgia player, senior Ignacio Taboada (110th), in Monday’s championship match at 10 a.m. Taboada defeated his sophomore teammate, Hernus Pieters, in three sets Sunday.
He had won each of his first three matches in straight sets, beating Federico Sabogal of South Florida in the round of 32 Saturday, 6-3, 6-3, then coming back to rout Campbell Johnson of Georgia, 6-2, 6-2. He defeated Florida Golf Coast’s Dean Tsamas, 6-1, 6-2, on Friday in the first round.
Tech’s other quarterfinal entry, Juan Melian Puigventos, was eliminated Sunday by Taboada, 6-4, 6-4.
2011 USTA/ITA Southeast Regional Championships
Dan Magill Tennis Complex, Athens, Ga.
Sunday Results
Singles Quarterfinals
Kevin King (7), Ga. Tech def. Nassim Slilam, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
Ignacio Taboada, Georgia def. Juan Melian Puigventos, 6-4, 6-4
Singles Semifinals
Kevin King (6), Ga. Tech def. Sadio Doumbia (1), Georgia, 6-0, 6-3
