Oct. 28, 2013
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue men's tennis players Mark Kovacs and Aaron Dujovne swept the Big Ten Singles Championships Monday at the Schwartz Tennis Center. Ninth-seeded Kovacs won the Main Singles Draw title by defeating Dimitrjie Tasic of Indiana and Dujovne downed another Hoosier, Daniel Bednzrxzyk, in the Consolation Singles Draw.
"I feel really happy; I'm really happy I could win this tournament," Kovacs said. "I was really composed, I had a good warm up and I played some of my best tennis this morning. I was able to out-perform my opponent. I'm thankful for everyone that could help me complete this goal. I am looking forward to the [spring] season and playing with the same [type of] performance."
Kovacs controlled the match against Tasic from start to finish, easily taking the first set, 6-2. He raced out to a 4-0 lead in the second set before Tasic was able to win a point at 5-1. The Boilermaker sent a shot down the left line for match point, 6-1.
The senior from Budapest, Hugary, won six matches, including an upset of the No. 1 seed Vlad Stefan of Michigan, en route to the second individual tournament title in his Purdue career. Kovacs won four matches in straight sets, one in three and his quarterfinal opponent retired in the second set, to push his fall record to 9-3.
Dujovne and Bednzrxzyk waged a see-saw battle. Bednzrxzyk won the first set after going point-for-point, 7-6 (1). Dujovne responded with a 6-2 decision in the second to even the match. He took his momentum into the tiebreaker and clinched the match with a 1-0 (7).
The Boilermaker improves to 9-3 in his final fall campaign. After dropping his first match of the tournament, Dujovne strung together seven-straight wins, two of which were decided in the tiebreaker.
Complete results from the tournament can be found here.
The Purdue men's tennis team will play in its final tournament of the fall season Nov. 1-3 at the Louisville Invitational.
Singles Main Draw
Finals
(9) Mark Kovacs (Purdue) def. Dimitrjie Tasic (Indiana), 6-2, 6-1
Singles Consolation Draw
Finals
Aaron Dujovne (Purdue) def. Daniel Bednzrxzyk (Indiana), 6-7 (1), 6-2, 1-0 (7)