LAKELAND – Florida Southern junior Jorge Gutierrez (Madrid, Spain) concluded play here Saturday in the USTA/ITA South Regional Championships by claiming the singles title in the consolation bracket at the Wynee Warden Tennis Center on the FSC campus.
Gutierrez was the only Moccassin playing on the men's side of the tournament on Saturday as he opened the day with a hard-fought win over Palm Beach Atlantic's Mark Heimberger in a third-set tiebreaker (6-4, 2-6, 10-4), before winning in a walkover in the finals over Saint Leo's Ismail Lemtouni. Lemtouni advanced to the finals with a win in a third set tiebreaker (6-3, 3-6, 10-8) over Rollins' Malte Christesen, who was the No. 9 seed in the tournament.
In addition to Gutierrez, who finished with a 3-1 mark in singles and teamed with junior Nathan Leavitt (Bradenton, Fla.) to go 0-1 in doubles play, sophomore Emanuel Luber (Tiengen, Germany) went 2-1 in singles and teamed with junior Benoit Paradis (Quebec City, Quebec) to finish 1-1 in doubles. Leavitt finished with a 1-1 record in singles and Paradis also went 1-1 in singles at the tournament.
In other action on Saturday, West Florida's Bruno Savi and Lynn's Willi Wolfer advanced to Sunday's final of the Open Singles Draw, while Barry's doubles team of Fabian Groetsch and Marco Mokrzycki earned a berth in Sunday's Open Doubles Draw final with West Florida's tandem of Kevin Ducros and Tony Rajaobelina. All of Sunday's action begins at 9 a.m. at the Wynee Warden Tennis Center.
West Alabama's doubles tandem of Adam Drysdale and Anton Ivanov posted an 8-4 win over West Alabama's other doubles tandem of Luis Ruiz and Honorio Fernandez to claim the consolation doubles title.
The singles and doubles champions of the South Regional Championship will advance to the USTA/ITA National Small College Championships on Oct. 11-14 at the Copeland-Cox Tennis Center in Mobile, Ala. The USTA/ITA National Small College Championships are comprised of the eight regional champions (and/or at-large selections) from NCAA Divisions II and III, NAIA and Junior/Community Colleges.