October 30, 2009
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Mississippi State men's tennis team claimed a couple of individual matches at the Birmingham Futures event, which is played at Highland Park on clay courts.
MSU's 83rd-nationally ranked sophomore Artem Ilyushin was paired against fellow Bulldog and teammate, junior Antonio Lastre. Ilyushin won the match in identical sets over Lastre, 6-4, 6-4, to advance to the next round of the tournament. With the loss, Lastre was eliminated from the event.
"It was unfortunate that Artem (Ilyushin) and Tony (Lastre) had to play each other in the first round," said head coach Per Nilsson. "Both of them could have done some damage in this tournament."
MState's sophomore Louis Cant won his first-round match in identical sets, 6-2, 6-2, over Sven Burus, to advance to the next round of action.
The Bulldogs' lone-senior Chris Doerr was also eliminated from the tournament after falling to Lachlan Ferguson in a tight three-set bout, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2.
State's Ilyushin and Cant will return to the clay-court action tomorrow, Saturday, Oct. 31.
BIRMINGHAM FUTURES
Birmingham, Ala. - 10/30/09
SINGLES - QUALIFYING
First Round - Louis Cant (MSU) def. Sven Burus, 6-2, 6-2.
Second Round - #83 Artem Ilyushin (MSU) def. Antonio Lastre (MSU) 6-4, 6-4.Lachlan Ferguson def. Chris Doerr (MSU) 4-6, 6-2, 6-2.
Courtesy: mstateathletics.com
