May 23, 2007
ATHENS, Ga. - San Diego State senior Markus Dickhardt advanced to the round of 32 at the NCAA men's tennis singles championships in Athens, Ga., after defeating Kaden Hensel of Tennessee in three sets, 7-6(5), 4-6, 7-6(5). With the victory, Dickhardt becomes the first Aztec since Oliver Maiberger in 2003 to move past the first round in the singles tournament.
From the beginning, the two nationally ranked players looked to be evenly matched and No. 43 Dickhardt's 7-6(5) first-set victory proved it. In the second frame, 17th-ranked Hensel was able to break the SDSU senior's serve and took full advantage of the opportunity en route to a 6-4 triumph.
The third set was much like the first as both players traded points to force a tiebreaker. In the break, Hensel found himself ahead 5-4, but Dickhardt rallied back to win the next three points to record his 26th victory of the season and his eighth over a nationally ranked opponent. The win over Hensel marks the highest-ranked player Dickhardt has defeated in 2007.
Dickhardt moves on in the bracket to face Florida's Jesse Levine in the next round. Levine is ranked third in the country and is the tournament's No. 3 seed. The freshman enters his match with Dickhardt sporting a perfect 22-0 record and was just named the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's (ITA) National Rookie of the Year on Tuesday. The time of tomorrow's first serve is still to be announced.
Following Dickhardt's singles contest, he and Christian Groh will hit the court for their round of 32 match in the NCAA doubles tournament. The 32nd-ranked pair will face No. 41 Diego Camacho and Ross Cunningham of Tulsa at a time to announced.