University of Tennessee Athletics
Tennis: Former Vols Advance in Doubles at Challenger
November 11, 2011 | Men's Tennis
Nov. 11, 2011
The former Tennessee Volunteers are out of the running in singles at the Knoxville Challenger, but they remain very much alive in doubles.
Adam Hubble and his doubles partner Frederik Nielsen of Denmark ousted top-seeded Martin Emmrich of Germany and Andreas Siljestrom of Sweden on Thursday to advance to the semifinals at the Goodfriend Tennis Center.
A few hours later, newly minted pros Rhyne Williams and Tennys Sandgren won their opening match in straight sets, beating Amer Delic of Bosnia and Chris Guccione of Australia 6-4, 7-6 (6).
Hubble and Nielsen play their semifinal match Friday against Cheng-Peng Hsieh and Hsin-Han Lee of Taipei after 2 p.m. Williams and Sandgren square off against second-seeded John Paul Fruttero of the United States and Raven Klaasen of South Africa in the evening showcase match that will not start before 6 p.m.
For Hubble, reaching the semifinals was a longer road than merely winning two matches. After nine months recovering from an elbow injury and a month getting back on tour in the United States, the former top-150 doubles player is back in the semifinal of a Challenger for the first time since October 2010.
And what a way to get there.
In a match that featured good returning in the first set and one timely ace at the end, Hubble and Nielsen upset top-seeded Emmrich and Siljestrom 6-3, 5-7, [11-9] in the quarterfinals.
Emmrich is ranked 89th and Siljestrom is ranked 80th in the ATP World Doubles Rankings respectively.
Facing a match point at 9-8 in the 10-point tiebreaker, Hubble served out wide for an ace to tie the score at 9-9. He and Nielsen secured the victory two points later.
"We got pretty lucky with a big serve to save match point out wide and got off with the ace," Hubble said. "There are going to be some days that misses and some days that goes in. Today it went in."
It was about this time last year Hubble said he started having trouble with his elbow, and the condition grew worse when he returned home to Australia for a Futures event. The injury did not require surgery but it did keep him off the tour for nine months.
The road back from injury obviously does not stop with one semifinal appearance.
While rehabbing, Hubble lost a majority of his ranking points. He is currently ranked No. 712, down from a career-best No. 146 in August 2010. He has been touring Futures and Challenger events in the United States since September.
"It's been great to get back into the semifinals, but we're still obviously not happy with that. We'd like to go the whole way," Hubble said. "The first few tournaments back I played were quite strong. The depth of doubles in the States is usually strong right throughout. I lost a few first rounds but it's just a matter of plugging away at it."
WILLIAMS, SANDGREN ADVANCE
Williams and Sandgren, the Vols' go-to team at the No. 2 position last season, recorded an opening win in doubles Thursday with the hard-fought victory over towering veterans Delic and Guccione.
The Vols duo rallied from down 3-1 to take the first set 6-4, but a closely contested second set forced Sandgren and Williams into a roller coaster of a tiebreaker.
Williams and Sandgren jumped ahead from the outset and eventually opened up a 6-3 lead with Williams serving for the match, but Delic and Guccione weren't finished just yet. Delic lined a return winner down the line and Williams hit a shot into the net on the next point.
Delic and Guccione tied the score 6-6, but Delic proceeded to volley wide to give the Vols their fourth match point opportunity. This time, Sandgren made it count with a second serve out wide to secure the victory.
Williams and Sandgren have won one doubles tournament together this season, the Tevlin Family Futures in Toronto, Canada. They were finalists in another Futures in Canada as well.
