NEW ORLEANS – William Carey University’s Daniil Klimov and Leo Bresson won the tennis program’s first-ever doubles ITA Regional Championship – and Bresson added the first-ever singles ITA Regional Championship – at the NAIA Gulf Intercollegiate Tennis Association Regional Championship, held at the XULA Tennis Center.
“I am very happy to bring all the trophies home for Carey,” said Bresson. “Proud of the work all of us did this weekend. It was tough for all of us, but we found a way. Now let’s grab the national title.”
Klimov and Bresson started their nine-match marathon journey on Friday. In morning singles action, Bresson cruised to a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Leo Schon from Blue Mountain College in the round of 32, while Klimov had a good showing in the singles matches against Herman Aure from Loyola 6-3, 6-4.
In the afternoon and evening doubles matches, Klimov-Bresson started things off winning their round of 16 match against Nitish Mohan-Andrew Moore from Texas A&M-Texarkana 8-2. Later in the day, Klimov-Bresson took down Justin Van Amerongen-Victor Lopez Hernandez from Blue Mountain in the quarterfinals 8-4.
On Saturday morning, Bresson and Klimov started their day with a double match against Marco Huauya and Juan Silva from Blue Mountain. Bresson and Klimov made quick work of the Topper duo, winning 8-4 to advance to the championship finals on Sunday.
However, their day was not done. In singles action, Breeson defeated Kevin Tsati-Onla of Texas A&M-Texarkana 6-2, 6-0 in the round of 16 and advanced to the semifinals with a decisive 6-4, 6-2 win over Xavier’s Jacobi Bain. Klimov finished off Juan Ramirez from Xavier 6-2, 6-4 – sending him to the semifinals where he would face off against teammate Eric Caleguer on Sunday. Caleguer was stellar over the weekend, entering the tournament unseeded and advancing to Championship Sunday.
On Sunday, Bresson had his hands full with Shaikh Abdullah from Xavier. After taking the first set 6-3, the second went to a tie break with Bresson coming out on top 7-4, sending him to the championship match. In a battle of teammates, Klimov edged out Caleguer 6-2, 6-7, 10-6 in a hard-fought match. After the singles matches, Klimov and Bresson turned their attention to the doubles title and quickly secured it with a 6-2, 6-3 rout of Jacobi Bain-Juan Ramirez. After the double match, Bresson and Klimov tangled for the singles title, with Bresson edging out Klimov 7-6, 6-7, 10-8.
“It was a great weekend for William Carey and WCU Tennis,” said Head Coach Marc Lux. “Before the championship, we talked about how special it would be to bring home these titles. Everyone worked really hard on both sides, and we got the job done. This is another big step for our program, and I am looking forward to nationals and next spring.”
Klimov agreed: “Super-excited to win the first regional title for William Carey. Now it is on to Rome to bring home another doubles national title and some singles hardware as well.”
Bresson and Klimov will advance to the ITA National Championship Oct. 14-17 in Rome, Ga.
In the photo: Pictured, from left, are Assistant Tennis Coach Hugo Robuchon, Daniil Klimov, Leo Bresson, and Head Tennis Coach Marc Lux
