Grubin Falls in ITA Finals
10/20/2008
Grubin Falls in ITA Finals
Mobile, AL - Sophomore Alex Grubin (Belgrade, Serbia) was defeated by Eudaldo Bonet of Armstrong Atlantic University in the finals of the ITA National Small College Championships 6-3, 6-1 this past saturday in Mobile, AL. Grubin is the defending champion and entered the tournament as the top ranked men's tennis player in Division II.
Grubin started the tournament with a 6-3, 6-0 win over Marton Zsiga of Southwest Baptist University, which advanced him to the semi-finals on Friday.
In the semi-finals, Grubin defeated Rong Ma of BYU-Hawaii 7-6 (5), 6-3 to go on to the finals and the chance to defend his title. Ma finished last season ranked 25th in the nation. In the other semi-final, Bonet defeated Ales Svigelj of Barry University 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 to advance to the championship match. Svigelj ended last season ranked 19th in the nation.
In the doubles tournament, Grubin and sophomore Richard Malobicky (Pulheim, Germany) finished in 3rd place in the 8-team bracket. The duo defeated Peter Kazianscheutz and Bertrand Vigouroux of Northwood University 6-3, 6-2.
In the semi-finals, Grubin and Malobicky were defeated by Justin Pickham and Erick Siqueira of Georgia College and State University 6-2, 3-6, 11-9, which placed them in the third place match. Grubin and Malobicky were able to bounce back and defeat Ryan Hudson and Juan Nunez of Abilene Christian University 4-6, 6-1, 1 (8) to take 3rd place overall.
