Oct. 4, 2008
ATLANTA – Georgia Tech’s Eliot Potvin won a pair of matches Saturday in the pre-qualifying draw at the D’Novo All-American Championships in Tulsa, Fla., and stands one win from advancing to the qualifying draw that begins Monday.
Out of 187 players in the pre-qualifying draw, 16 will advance to the qualifying draw after Sunday’s fourth round. The tournament is being held at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center on the campus of the University of Tulsa.
Potvin, who had a bye in Friday’s first round, needed a second-set tie breaker to defeat John Tragardh of LSU, 6-2, 7-6 (2), in his first match Saturday. Two hours later, the sophomore from Hampden, Maine, downed Matt Teivens of Wichita State, 6-1, 7-5, and advanced to face 24th-seed Dan Cash of Florida at 11 a.m. Eastern time Sunday.
“He played very solidly,” said Tech head coach Kenny Thorne. “He started very well in his first match and played within himself, which is what you hope for. Tragardh settled in and played better in the second set, but Eliot remained focused and stayed with it. He played the tiebreaker very aggressively. His level of intensity didn’t drop in the second match, and he’s right where he wants to be.”
Tech freshman Kevin King already is entered in the qualifying draw, which includes 128 players competing in three rounds of matches Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. The main draw of the championship features 64 players and runs Thursday through Sunday, and Yellow Jackets’ sophomore Guillermo Gomez is already seeded into that draw.
