Padio Scores Big Upset Win At ITA All-American Championships

Sunday, September 21

Tulsa, Okla.

All Day

Mercer University

ITA All-American Championships

Padio Scores Big Upset Win At ITA All-American Championships

9/21/2025 7:57:00 PM | Men's Tennis

By: Todd Anderson, anderson_t02@mercer.edu

TULSA, Okla. – Senior Hod'Abalo Isak Padio knocked off third-seeded Derrick Chen in his opening match of the day, but had his run through the ITA All-American Championships stopped with a tough three-set loss to 21^st-seeded Julian Alonso on Sunday inside Tulsa's Michael D. Keane Tennis Center.

Padio got the best of Chen in straight sets, 6-4 and 6-4, to advance to the round of 64 in northeast Oklahoma. A 64-match winner at Cal from 2022-25, Chen will play his final collegiate season in 2025-26 amid a stacked roster at nationally-ranked Georgia.

Padio rallied back from a 6-1 loss to Alonso in the opening set with a 6-3 win in the second set, but the TCU winner was on the better end of a 6-3 score in the deciding third set to punch his ticket to Monday's action at the prestigious event. Alonso has been one of a handful of Horned Frogs to boast an individual national ranking in each of the last two seasons.

Nemanja Stefanovic had his run in the consolation round halted due to weather on Sunday. His matchup with Wichita State junior Alejandro Jacome was cancelled due to consistent rain in the Tulsa area.

The Bears will open the team portion of their 2025-26 fall schedule, Sept. 26-28, when they head to Jacksonville, Fla., for the North Florida Invitational.