SAN FRANCISCO – Despite dropping his opening singles match, Illinois junior Kenta Miyoshi bounced back with four consecutive victories over ranked opponents to win the singles consolation bracket at Battle In The Bay in San Francisco on Sunday.
The No. 42-ranked player in the ITA singles rankings, Miyoshi recorded straight-set decisions in each of those four wins to finish the weekend 4-1 in singles action.
Miyoshi teamed up with Illini senior Karlis Ozolins in doubles play, while Ozolins also took part in singles action during the four-day event.
Day 1
Miyoshi and Ozolins teamed up to defeat Derrick Chen and Timofey Stepanov of Cal, 8-5, in their opening match at Battle In The Bay. Their victory saw the Illinois duo move on to the quarterfinals on Friday.
Both Illini student-athletes then fell in straight sets in singles play. Miyoshi suffered a two-set defeat to Arizona’s Zoran Ludoski, while Ozolins dropped his match to UC Santa Barbara’s Dominique Rolland. Both players moved into the singles consolation bracket.
Day 2
Miyoshi and Ozolins dropped their opening match of the day in doubles play, falling to TCU’s Duncan Chan and Michigan State’s Danial Rakhmatullayev, 8-4.
Competing in the consolation bracket, Miyoshi picked up his first singles win of the season with a 6-2, 6-3 decision over No. 103 Maxi Homberg of Pepperdine.
Ozolins’ match ended in a walkover.
Day 3
Miyoshi kept his momentum rolling into Saturday. Taking on the No. 3 seed in the competition, the Japan native posted his second ranked win of the weekend with a 7-5, 6-4 victory over No. 37 Pedro Vives of TCU.
Looking to earn a spot in the consolation final, Miyoshi faced his third consecutive ranked opponent in the semifinals. Against Arizona’s No. 109 Casper Christensen, Miyoshi continued his run in San Francisco with a 6-3, 7-5 triumph to move on to the singles consolation final.
Day 4
Miyoshi’s final match of the weekend came on the final day of the tournament, with the Illini junior taking on San Diego’s No. 91 Savriyan Danilov. After a back-and-forth first set went in Miyoshi’s favor, and he proceeded to finish strong en route to a 7-5, 6-2 decision to win the consolation bracket.
Results
Day 1 – Sept. 12
Singles – First Round
Zoran Ludoski (ARIZ) def. [5-8] No. 42 Kenta Miyoshi (ILL), 6-4, 6-3
Dominique Rolland (UCSB) def. [2]…
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