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Liberty University
ITA Atlantic Regional
Thomas-Smith Secures Berth in ITA Super Regional With Saturday Singles Win
10/16/2021 3:23:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Liberty men’s tennis player Deji Thomas-Smith secured a berth into next weekend’s ITA Atlantic Super Regional with a Saturday singles win in the ITA Atlantic South Regional, Saturday morning.
Thomas-Smith, the No. 12 seed in the singles main draw, defeated William & Mary’s Finbar Talcott in straight sets, 6-1, 6-3. Thomas-Smith was 2-0 in singles this weekend at the Liberty Tennis Complex and will move on to the Super Regional at Old Dominion, Oct. 23-25.
Thomas-Smith will be joining teammates Josh Wilson, Rafael Marques Da Silva and Christiaan Worst at the Super Regional. Wilson and Marques Da Silva automatically qualified for the event in singles. Thomas-Smith and Worst received an automatic bid in doubles. Thomas-Smith will be the only Flame competing in both doubles and singles.
Key Stats & Notes
• Liberty posted a 4-4 overall record on Saturday, going 2-2 in doubles and 2-2 in singles. The Flames were 6-5 in singles and 2-2 in doubles during the two-day event.
• Each of Thomas-Smith’s wins this weekend were in straight sets. The Flames sophomore won 24 games in those two contests while losing only seven.
• Both Flames doubles teams competing today posted 1-1 marks. Marques Da Silva and Wilson, the No. 2 seed in the main draw, bested Virginia Tech’s Ryan Bernstine and Matt Harper 8-2 on Saturday morning in the round of 16.
• With a spot in the Super Regional on the line, Marques Da Silva and Wilson faced William & Mary’s Joseph Brailovsky and Chen Ruo in what was the final overall match of the tournament. Rain forced the match into the Liberty Indoor Tennis Center, with Brailovsky and Ruo prevailing 8-4 to move on to the Super Regional.
• Liberty’s Omar El Kadi and Thando Longwe-Smit topped ODU’s Yevhen Sirous and Oliver Tobisch 8-4 in the round of 16 to set up a quarterfinal match against No. 4 seed Alvaro Saez-Royuela Ariza and Hugo Maia of Virginia Tech. The Hokies duo prevailed 8-1 in that match, qualifying for the Super Regional.
• Longwe-Smit played a consolation singles match during the morning singles session. The redshirt sophomore upended Radford’s Andres Silva 6-3, 6-4. Longwe-Smit finished 1-1 in singles at the event.
• The Flames’ Christiaan Worst (No. 14 seed) squared off against No. 3 seed Holden Koons of JMU. Koons edged Worst in two sets, 7-5, 7-5. Worst wraps up the weekend with a 1-1 singles record.
• In the doubles main draw, the final four doubles teams advance to the ITA Atlantic Super Regional. In the singles main draw, the final eight players move on to the Super Regional.
• This is the second time in program history Liberty has hosted the ITA Atlantic Regional. The Flames hosted the event in 2017. This is the first year that the ITA Atlantic Regional was split into South and North divisions, with a Super Regional to follow.
Up Next
Liberty will head to the ITA Atlantic Super Regional, Oct. 23-25 at Old Dominion. The three-day event will be held at the Folkes-Stevens Tennis Center in Norfolk, Va.
