Vale Wins Doubles Championship in Vero Beach Pro Tournament
Sunday, October 24, 2021 | Men's Tennis
VERO BEACH, Fla. – Another professional trophy is headed back to Gainesville as senior Duarte Vale and former Gator Johannes Ingildsen won the doubles title at the $15,000 Mardy Fish Children's Foundation Tennis Championships.
Vale and Ingildsen grouped together for the second pro tournament in a row, where they were the finalists in the doubles draw last week in Naples. In Vero Beach, the duo made it to the semifinals with victories against Murkel Dellien and Kiranpal Pannu, 6-3, 6-3, and No. 1-seeded pair, Juan Ignasio Galarza and Ricardo Rodrigues, 6-4, 6-2. The duo would advance to the finals after defeating Blu Baker and Ezekiel Clark, 6-4, 6-3, where they took on No. 2-seeded duo, sophomore Ben Shelton and ITA No. 1 player, Liam Draxl. In the finals, the Vale/Ingildsen pair claimed the championship with a straight-set victory, 6-3, 6-4.
Seeded as the No. 2 duo in the tournament, Shelton and Draxl advanced to the semifinals with wins over Cooper Williams and Michael Zheng, 7-5, 6-4, and Federico Bertuccioli and Marco De Rossi, 7-5, 6-3. In the semis, the Shelton/Draxl pair had a tough match against No. 4-seed, Benjamin Kittay and Israel Alexander Ore, but would win in a super tiebreak, 3-6, 6-4, 10-5, to move on to the finals and face Vale and Ingildsen.
Vale, the No. 8-seed in singles, took on Toby Martin in the first round and won in a tough match, 5-7, 6-2, 6-2. He then moved into the quarterfinals with a win over Stetson's Diogo Marques, 6-3, 6-3. The Gator had a rematch with the No. 1 junior player, Juncheng Shang, who competed against Vale in the singles finals of the M15 Naples tournament last week. Vale battled, but fell in the quarterfinals to Shang, 3-6, 6-7 (4).
Shelton came into the tournament as the No. 4-seed in singles and played Bruno Kuzuhara, the ITF No. 8 junior player, in his first match of the main draw. Shelton and Kuzuhara battled in their match as the two are familiar with one another – both of them won the Boys' 18s Doubles Title in Kalamazoo earlier in the summer and qualified for the US Open Doubles Main Draw. Shelton would win his match against Kuzuhara, 7-5, 7-6 (9), to advance.
In the second round, Shelton battled Blaise Bicknell for a spot in the quarterfinals. He pulled out the win in three sets, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2. Shelton had another tough matchup ahead in the quarterfinals as he went up against ITA No. 1 player, Liam Draxl. The two traded sets until Draxl was able to pull out the victory in three, 1-6, 7-6 (3), 4-6.
Senior Andy Andrade also advanced to the singles main draw after posting two wins in qualifying. In his first qualifying match, Andrade won decisively over James Van Deinse, 6-0, 6-4, before overtaking Yang Lu by the same scores to get into the main draw. He would lose to the No. 5-seed and ATP No. 736 player, Juan Ignacio Galarza, in the first round of the main draw, 1-6, 7-5, 4-6.
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Vale and Ingildsen grouped together for the second pro tournament in a row, where they were the finalists in the doubles draw last week in Naples. In Vero Beach, the duo made it to the semifinals with victories against Murkel Dellien and Kiranpal Pannu, 6-3, 6-3, and No. 1-seeded pair, Juan Ignasio Galarza and Ricardo Rodrigues, 6-4, 6-2. The duo would advance to the finals after defeating Blu Baker and Ezekiel Clark, 6-4, 6-3, where they took on No. 2-seeded duo, sophomore Ben Shelton and ITA No. 1 player, Liam Draxl. In the finals, the Vale/Ingildsen pair claimed the championship with a straight-set victory, 6-3, 6-4.
Seeded as the No. 2 duo in the tournament, Shelton and Draxl advanced to the semifinals with wins over Cooper Williams and Michael Zheng, 7-5, 6-4, and Federico Bertuccioli and Marco De Rossi, 7-5, 6-3. In the semis, the Shelton/Draxl pair had a tough match against No. 4-seed, Benjamin Kittay and Israel Alexander Ore, but would win in a super tiebreak, 3-6, 6-4, 10-5, to move on to the finals and face Vale and Ingildsen.
Vale, the No. 8-seed in singles, took on Toby Martin in the first round and won in a tough match, 5-7, 6-2, 6-2. He then moved into the quarterfinals with a win over Stetson's Diogo Marques, 6-3, 6-3. The Gator had a rematch with the No. 1 junior player, Juncheng Shang, who competed against Vale in the singles finals of the M15 Naples tournament last week. Vale battled, but fell in the quarterfinals to Shang, 3-6, 6-7 (4).
Shelton came into the tournament as the No. 4-seed in singles and played Bruno Kuzuhara, the ITF No. 8 junior player, in his first match of the main draw. Shelton and Kuzuhara battled in their match as the two are familiar with one another – both of them won the Boys' 18s Doubles Title in Kalamazoo earlier in the summer and qualified for the US Open Doubles Main Draw. Shelton would win his match against Kuzuhara, 7-5, 7-6 (9), to advance.
In the second round, Shelton battled Blaise Bicknell for a spot in the quarterfinals. He pulled out the win in three sets, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2. Shelton had another tough matchup ahead in the quarterfinals as he went up against ITA No. 1 player, Liam Draxl. The two traded sets until Draxl was able to pull out the victory in three, 1-6, 7-6 (3), 4-6.
Senior Andy Andrade also advanced to the singles main draw after posting two wins in qualifying. In his first qualifying match, Andrade won decisively over James Van Deinse, 6-0, 6-4, before overtaking Yang Lu by the same scores to get into the main draw. He would lose to the No. 5-seed and ATP No. 736 player, Juan Ignacio Galarza, in the first round of the main draw, 1-6, 7-5, 4-6.
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