The Florida men’s tennis doubles team of sophomores Sekou Bangoura Jr. (Bradenton, Fla.) and Billy Federhofer (North Miami, Fla.) posted a pair of wins as doubles qualifying got underway on Tuesday at the ITA/D’Novo All-American Championships in Tulsa, Okla., hosted by the University of Tulsa.
The duo defeated Nebraska’s 44th-ranked pair of Christopher Aumueller and Calin Paar, 8-6, in the opening round of play and followed that up with an identical 8-6 win in the second round over Illinois State’s Alexander Palaez and Timon Reichelt. Bangoura and Federhofer need one win on Wednesday to advance to the 32-team main draw. They will face California’s Nicholas Andrews and Jonathan Dahan.
In second-round singles qualifying action, junior Nassim Slilam (Paris, France) fell to Nebraska’s Benedikt Lindheim, while Bangoura came up short against 47th-ranked Artem Baradach of SMU.
ITA All-American Championships
Tulsa, Okla.
Tuesday, Oct. 5, Results – Florida Only
Singles Qualifying
Second Round
Benedikt Lindheim (Nebraska) def. Nassim Slilam (UF) – 6-4, 6-4
(47) Artem Baradach (SMU) def. (111) Sekou Bangoura Jr. (UF) – 6-4, 6-4
Doubles Qualifying
First Round
Bangoura/Federhofer (UF) def. (44) Aumueller/Paar (Nebraska) – 8-6
Second Round
Bangoura/Federhofer (UF) def. Palaez/Reichelt (Illinois State) – 8-6
Wednesday, Oct. 6, Scheduled Matches – Florida Only
Doubles Qualifying
Third Round
Bangoura/Federhofer (UF) vs. Andrews/Dahan (California)
