Bears Off To Hot Start At ITA Southeast Regional

ATHENS – Newcomer Hod'Abalo Isak Padio registered a pair of three-set victories in the qualifying tournament to advance to Thursday's main draw action, while both of Mercer's doubles tandems toughed out a pair of opening-day victories, to give the Bears a red-hot start at the Georgia-hosted ITA Southeast Regional Championships on Wednesday.

Padio rallied back from a first-set loss in his Wednesday morning opener before defeating Georgia State's Hugo Nossler with a 7-5 triumph in the third and deciding set, then played the other side of the coin in his afternoon match when Florida State's Justin Lyons overcame an opening-set loss with a 6-1 victory in the second set. Padio regained his composure and clinched the matchup by virtue of a 6-4 win in the third set.

Senior Marceau Fouilhoux split a pair of matches in the qualifying draw, rebounding from an opening-set loss to Kennesaw State's Anthony Weingarten with 6-2 scores in each of the last two sets. He would eventually be ousted by Central Florida's Emilio Sanchez in straight sets. Amen Prince Gandonou dropped his only match of the day to South Florida's Ettore Danesi in straight sets.

Padio will tangle with Miami's Nacho Serra Sanchez in his main draw tilt on Thursday morning, while junior Nemanja Stefanovic will take on Florida State's Jan Sebesta.

In doubles action on Wednesday, Fouilhoux/Stefanovic breezed past Georgia Tech's tandem of Rohan Sachdev and Robert Bauer, 8-4, in the main draw, while Padio/Gandonou used a 7-1 tiebreaker to oust Florida Atlantic's Simon Myslivec and Jan Kusy. Fouilhoux/Stefanovic will take Miami's fifth-seeded tandem of Martin Katz and Antonio Prat in Thursday's Round of 32, while Padio/Gandonou will face ninth-seeded Serra Sanchez/Mehdi Sadaoui from Miami.

Bears Off To Hot Start At ITA Southeast Regional

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Players Mentioned

Marceau Fouilhoux

Amen Prince Gandonou

Hod'Abalo Isak Padio

Nemanja Stefanovic

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