Liam Draxl, Gabriel Diallo Advance to NCAA Second Round
ORLANDO, Fla. – With only 32 singles spots up for grabs, two Kentucky sophomores advanced to the second round of the NCAA Championship with wins over senior opponents on Sunday at the USTA National Campus in Orlando.
No. 1 seed Liam Draxl defeated John McNally of Ohio State by a score of 2-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7-4) in one of the tournament’s opening matches, while 14th-ranked Gabriel Diallo defeated 34th-ranked Hamish Stewart of Tulane 6-4, 6-7 (4-7), 6-3 later in the afternoon.
Prior to Draxl’s victory, 33rd-ranked Kentucky senior Millen Hurrion scratched from his first-round bout with No. 42 Adria Soriano Barrera of Miami due to injury. Hurrion is set to return to Lexington for another round of varsity competition next season.
After yet another come-from-behind thriller, Draxl’s sensational season continues with a second-round matchup against No. 36 Axel Nefve of Notre Dame on Monday at a time yet to be announced. Diallo’s opponent will be the head-to-head winner between No. 41 Martim Prata of Tennessee and No. 80 Julien Evrard of South Alabama.
After the conclusion of Monday’s singles competition, Diallo will take the court once again alongside César Bourgois for the first round of the 32-team doubles tournament. The nation’s No. 6 duo will face the Fighting Irish’s 22nd-ranked Nefve and Tristan McCormick in a rematch of a 6-3 win for the Wildcats on Jan. 31.
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