Oct. 6, 2008

LUBBOCK, Texas - All four Texas Tech men's tennis players - Sinisa Markovic, Christian Rojmar, Raony Carvalho and Gonzalo Escobar - competing in the ITA All-American Championships in Tulsa, Okla. won opening round matches Monday in the singles qualifying bracket.

Escobar began the day for the Red Raiders dropping the first set, 2-6, to Sacramento State's Kiryl Harbatsuik before rebounding to take the final two sets, 6-3, 7-6 (3). Markovic immediately followed with a straight set victory over Nick Meister of UCLA, 6-2, 7-6 (5).

After losing the first set, 6-7 (3), Carvalho rallied to defeat Zach Nichols of TCU, 6-2, 6-3. Rojmar closed the day for the Red Raiders, advancing on straight sets over Dimitry Lebedev of Arkansas, 6-4, 6-4.

"It was a great first day, and I thought all four players showed improvement," Tech head coach Tim Siegel said. "I'm not sure how many teams went 4-0 today, but I thought the guys worked hard and played well. These are some of the top players in the country, so I was definitely pleased with our results."

All four Tech players must win two additional matches to advance into the main draw that begins Thursday. Escobar and Markovic open doubles play tomorrow in the doubles qualifying bracket. Rojmar and Carvalho are already entered into the doubles main draw which begins Thursday.