5 Freshmen Win On Friday

 

BONITA SPRINGS, Fla. - Five Boilermakers picked up wins on day one of the Bonita Bay Classic with Aleksa Krivokapic sweeping his two matches.

Purdue enjoyed the warm weather and the sunny skies on their first day of competition with six total wins across singles and doubles. The hidden dual-style match allowed the Boilers to get an authentic look at a potential spring lineup. 

Aleksa Krivokapic had the best showing on day one with the only two-win performance. He and Marino Jakic ran through their doubles opponent 6-4 and secured the lone doubles win for Purdue. The duo picked up their first team victory as Boilermakers after starting the fall 0-2. 

Krivokapic also bested Maxime St. Hilaire from Virginia Tech in a tough singles tiebreak. The redshirt freshman lept out to an early lead by taking the first set 6-3, but he was answered with a hard-fought 6-7(3) decision in the second. With the match at a stalemate, Krivokapic emerged victorious by edging out his challenger 10-8 for his second win of the day and his fourth solo victory of the fall.

The Boilermaker's herd of freshmen continued to shine individually with four of the five rookies picking up day-one wins, all of which came in straight sets.

Juan David Velasquez, Xander Ekstrand and Stefan Simeunovic had no trouble taking care of business as Simeunovic was the only one of the three to be pushed four games in a set. He came out with a long-haul first set taking the early lead 7-6(5) but never looked back as he toppled his Hokie opponent, Michael Shepheard, 6-2 for the win. Velasquez and Ekstrand were dominant as they outscored their opponents 24-10 in four total sets.

The successful Friday would not be complete without the mention of Henrik Villanger and his win in an all-out war of a match. With just six collegiate matches under his belt, the freshman clawed his way to a straight-set victory in what was the grittiest match of opening day. Villanger escaped a tiebreak in set one with a 7-5 decision for the lead, but set two was a battle. He was unable to escape the tiebreak on the brink of victory but when push came to shove he locked down the match and won the match by allowing just two points in the tiebreak.

The Boilermakers are back in action tomorrow, Saturday, Nov. 4 against host school Florida Gulf Coast at 4:30 p.m. EST.

RESULTS
Singles
Aleksa Krivokapic (PUR) def. Maxime St. Hilaire (VT)- 6-3, 6-7(3), 10-8
Hugo Maia (VT) def. Marino Jakic (PUR)- 6-1, 6-3
Stefan Simeunovic (PUR) def. Michael Shepheard (VT)- 7-6(5), 6-2
Alberto Orso (VT) def. Soham Purohit (PUR)- 6-4, 6-1
Juan David Velasquez (PUR) def. Matt Harper (VT)- 6-1, 6-4
Alex Ix (VT) def. Mujtaba Ali-Khan (PUR)- 6-4, 6-2
Henrik Villanger (PUR) def. Manuel Goncalves (VT)- 7-5, 7-6(2)
Alexander Ekstrand (PUR) def. Frank Thompson (VT)- 6-1, 6-4

Doubles
Aleksa Krivokapic/Marino Jakic (PUR) def. Matt Harper/Alberto Orso (VT)- 6-4
Alex Ix/Michael Shepheard (VT) def. Alexander Ekstrand/Juan David Velasquez (PUR)- 6-4
Maxime St. Hilaire/Hugo Maia (VT) def. Soham Purohit/Stefan Simeunovic (PUR)- 6-4
Manuel Goncalves/Frank Thompson (VT) def. Mujtaba Ali-Khan/Henrik Villanger (PUR)- 6-1