North Carolina
NCAA Tournament
Hernandez Advances In NCAA Tennis
May 23, 2012 | Men's Tennis
May 23, 2012
ATHENS, GA. - North Carolina junior Jose Hernandez was on and off the court quickly Wednesday morning, earning his way to a victory over Tulsa's Ashley Watling in the first round of the 2012 NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Singles Championship.
The junior from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic drew one of the earliest start times of the day at 10 a.m. and worked it to his advantage, giving him plenty of time to rest for his Thursday singles and doubles tilts.
Hernandez (ranked #26) defeated Watling (ranked #77), the Golden Hurricane's top player, by a 6-3 count in the first set and then survived a monster tiebreaker in the second set to prevail. Hernandez won the set 7-6 after winning the tiebreaker 12-10.
Hernandez will play 14th-ranked Nik Scholtz of Ole Miss in the second round Thursday. Scholtz defeated 33rd-ranked Alexis Klegou of Texas A&M in the first round 6-3, 6-7, 6-4.
Hernandez is in his third NCAA Championship as an individual. He lost in the first round as a freshman in 2010 and reached the Round of 16 as a sophomore in 2011.
Hernandez moves on to the second round of singles Thursday (time TBA). He and Joey Burkhardt, a senior from St. Augustine, Fla., will play their first round doubles match on Thursday as well (time TBA). The UNC duo is currently ranked #20 in the nation with a doubles mark of 13-3. Their first round opponents will be the tournament's #1 seeds, Chase Buchanan and Blaz Rola of Ohio State. They have a record this year of 31-3.
Players Mentioned
