GREENSBORO, NC – UNC Greensboro men’s tennis players Taylor Befus, Arsel Kumdereli and William John competed in the ITA Summer Circuit tournament in Chapel Hill last weekend. All players competed in both singles and doubles competition.
In singles action, Befus defeated Bill Rockwood, 6-3, 6-4 in the second round and then lost in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3, to ninth-seeded Charlie Drew. Kumdereli advanced to the round of 16 by winning two matches in straight sets. The Mersin, Turkey native, defeated Jared Goldstein 6-2, 6-1 and took a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Nick Spinazze before falling to top-seeded Bo Layman 6-2, 6-1.
John also reached the round of 16 and defeated ninth-seeded Andrew Malizia, 6-1, 7-5, after advancing with two walkovers in the early rounds of the tournament. John’s run ended when third-seeded Kevin Fleck defeated the Mt. Airy, NC native, 6-3, 6-1.
In doubles action, Befus teamed with Davidson’s Ryan Noble. The pair defeated Ryan Daly and Michael Zurawel from Raleigh, 8-4 in the first round before falling to Weston Nichols and Chris Peek, 8-3 in the second round. Kumdereli and John teamed for an all-UNCG tandem and advanced to the quarterfinals. The pair defeated the mixed pair of Jessica Armes and Bill Rockwood 8-4 in the round of 32 and knocked off the No. 2 seeded tandem of Alex Hill and Chris Motes, 8-2 before falling to Nichols and Peek in a close 8-6 match.
The ITA Summer Circuit provides college and junior players the opportunity to compete in organized events throughout the summer. It is made up of six regional circuits, East, Southeast, Midwest, Central, Southwest and West, and each region consists of four consecutive open tournaments played during the month of July, leading up to the August 11-15 ITA National Summer Championships in Bloomington, Indiana.
The next ITA Summer Circuit open tournament in the Southeast region takes place July 27-30 and will be hosted by UNCG.