Photo: PhotoNews/Clark Brooks
Illinois tennis player Kenta Miyoshi lines up a backhand shot at the 2023 Illini Open. He is ranked 42 in the ITA heading into his junior season.
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Illini tennis player wins title at Battle of the Bay
SNS – Despite dropping his opening singles match, Illinois junior Kenta Miyoshi bounced back with four consecutive victories over ranked opponents to win the singles consolation bracket at Battle In The Bay in San Francisco a week ago today. The No. 42-ranked player in the ITA singles rankings, Miyoshi recorded straight-set decisions in each of those four wins to finish the weekend with a 4-1 record.
Miyoshi teamed up with Illini senior Karlis Ozolins in doubles play, while Ozolins also took part in singles action during the four-day event. Unfortunately, the Illini duo fell in straight sets in their opening singles matches. Miyoshi suffered a two-set defeat to Arizona's Zoran Ludoski, 6-4, 6-3.
Meanwhile, Ozolins battled but came up short 6-4, 6-2, in his match to UC Santa Barbara's Dominique Rolland.
Competing in the consolation singles bracket, Miyoshi picked up his first singles win of the season with a 6-2, 6-3 decision over No. 103 Maxi Homberg of Pepperdine.
A day later, he earned his second-ranked win of the weekend with a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Spaniard Pedro Vives. Vives ranked No. 37 and a senior at Texas Christian University, completed high school at Rafa Nadal Academy.
One victory away from the consolation finals, Miyoshi took care of business against Arizona's Casper Christensen in straight sets, 6-3, 7-5.
After taking the first set 7-5 against Savriyan Danilov, the Illinois junior dominated the second set to win the title with a 6-2 finish over the San Diego State graduate student from Moscow.
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Photos: Sentinel/Clark Brooks