TULSA, Okla. ââ'¬" In their first appearance together this season, Gergely Madarasz and Ricky Medinilla turned a qualification bid into a six-match win streak at the ITA All Americans. The duo's journey to the doubles semifinals is the farthest any pairing has reached under head coach Pawel Gajdzik.
"I am extremely proud of these two players," Gajdzik said. "They demonstrated great maturity and commitment to their game. It's not easy to make it to the semifinals of a major tournament like this, it's even harder to play your way in, but they did it with poise."
In the first and second rounds of the qualifying draw, the pair defeated Tulsa and Texas Tech in straight sets, 7-5, 7-5 and 7-6(5), 6-3 respectively. Mississippi State dealt Purdue its first true challenge in the third round, but as Gajdzik eluded to, the twosome stayed focused. After winning the first set 6-0, Madarasz and Medinilla dropped the second 4-6, but quickly rebounded with a 1-0(6) victory in the tiebreak to secure the match.
"That last round of qualifications against Mississippi State was by far our biggest hurdle," Medinilla recalled. "We had already beaten the top seed in our flight and No. 3 overall, so we were the favorites, but we weren't playing well in the second set. There was a lot of wind; the conditions just weren't favorable. We refocused though in the tiebreak, and were able the win and move on."
After a day of rest, the two beat Texas A&M 6-3, 6-7(6), 1-0(5) in the opening round of the main draw. That victory set them up with a bout with Princeton, who just had defeated the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament.
The Boilermakers struggled early against the Tigers, losing the first set 1-6; however, Purdue would once again refocus and go onto win the second set and tiebreak 6-2, 1-0(6).
"Beating Princeton was by far the greatest moment of the tournament for Gery and me," Medinilla said. "We were supposed to play the number one ranked team in the nation, which was Oklahoma State, but Princeton had just beat them in the second round of the main draw. So when we beat Princeton, it gave us a lot of confidence. We knew after that we could win the tournament."
While the two would go onto win their next match against Southern California 4-6, 6-3, 1-0(7), the Boilermakers would not clinch the championship. Madarasz and Medinilla's run ended in the semifinals, losing to North Florida 2-6, 4-6. Their performance, however, was a win for the team and for coach Gajdzik's program.
"It felt great," Medinilla said. "Not only does it give us a lot of confidence, but it gives our teammates a lot of confidence too. They all know that they can go out and achieve the same thing now."
The majority of the men's tennis team will rest until the school's own Old Gold & Black Classic in late October. Madarasz, though, is back in action this weekend at the Oracle ITA Masters in Malibu, California.
