Monroe moves on to finals of BYU Invite

PROVO, Utah – Freshman Shane Monroe is making a very strong debut as a Cougar moving on to the BYU Invitational final Saturday. Monroe upset teammate and No. 2 seed Andrey Goryachkov in straight sets (6-4, 6-4) to move on to the final against BYU alum and tour player, Patrick Kawka Saturday at 10 a.m.

“It was a great day for Cougar players,” said head coach Brad Pearce. “I’m excited to see how hungry Shane Monroe, a freshman, is as he takes on former Cougar No. 1 Patrick Kawka.”

Daily Bracket

Monroe beat James Swiggart (6-4, 6-3) before facing teammate Goryachkov in the semifinals. Goryachkov defeated Santiago Sierra (6-2, 6-1) in his first match of the day. Juan Canales, Robin Pfister and Aidan Carrazedo were also in action in the main bracket Friday but all three fell in the quarterfinals or semifinals. Canales beat teammate Carrazedo (6-1, 6-1) in the quarterfinals but lost to Kawka (7-6, 7-6) in a thrilling match that went to tiebreakers in both sets. Pfister also fell to Kawka (6-3, 6-2) in the quarterfinals.

“There was some great tennis played by Canales and Goryachkov despite losing to fellow BYU players,” said Pearce.

Four Cougars also played in the consolation bracket Friday. Jeremy Bourgeois, Jacob Sullivan, David Ball and Victor Brown all played. Bourgeois lost to Johan Jonhagen (6-4, 6-4) while Sullivan, Ball and Brown all won to complete the consolation bracket semifinals with Jonhagen. Sullivan won both of his matches in straight sets. He defeated Justin Archer (6-2, 6-3) and Jonathan Dollahite (7-6, 6-4) to move on. Ball picked up a victory over Jacob Tullis (6-0, 7-5) and Brown ousted both Ryan Layton (6-1, 6-0) and Kendl Hansen (6-7, 7-6, 10-6). Sullivan will play Jonhagen while Brown and Ball will play for a spot in the consolation final.

Similar to the consolation bracket, three of the four doubles teams in the semifinals of the main draw are members of the BYU team. Coach Pearce and Goryachkov, the No. 1 seeded team, beat Nicholas and George Chingas 8-2 after a first-round bye. Carrazedo and Sullivan ousted teammates Brown and Pfister by a score of 8-6 while the duo of Bourgeois and Canales recorded a win over team members Ball and Monroe, 8-4.

“I’m excited about our season as I’ve seen our players improve from the first day,” said Pearce. “I’m also curious to see who still has fight left in them after a grueling two days of tennis.”

The two consolation semifinals will be played at 10 a.m. and the doubles semifinals will happen at 12:30 p.m., with the championship match set to begin at 1:30 p.m.