Wynan Advances To Quarterfinals Of Futures Event

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Junior Jake Wynan put together a breakout performance last week, advancing out of the qualifying draw and all the way to the quarterfinals of the main draw at the USA F30 Futures Event.

Out of 152 professionals, Wynan finished in a tie for fifth place, putting him among the top 500 players in the world and will give him his first top-1500 ATP world ranking. It is the first time in program history a Ragin' Cajun player has advanced to the quarterfinals of a futures event.

"Overall, what a super week filled with positives for our program," Louisiana head coach Mark Jeffrey said after the tournament. "Jake proved that he can play with the best professionals in the world."

Wynan, a native of Australia, advanced into the main draw with four straight victories in the qualifying draw. He knocked off Adam Rudowski (6-1, 7-6(4)) and Kenan Hadzic (6-2, 6-0) in the first two rounds, and Robin Haden (7-5, 6-0) of Mississippi State and Zvonimir Babic (3-6, 6-0, 6-4) to escape the qualifying draw and advance.

He then opened up the main draw with a victory over seventh-seeded Canadian Pavel Krainik (6-4, 6-0) in the first round, a player ranked in the top 650 in the ATP rankings. Wynan followed that up with a win (6-3, 6-4) over fellow qualifier Donovan McSeveney of South Africa. But the run came to an end one round later in straight sets (6-3, 6-1) to Jean-Yves Aubone.

"This performance will help him believe that he can compete with any college player in the country, and will give him enormous confidence moving forward," Jeffrey said.

"I hope the rest of our team takes note of Jake's attitude and approach to the game," Jeffrey said. "He is improving every day after committing to his approach many months ago and it is paying dividends."

In addition to Wynan's stellar run, the Ragin' Cajuns also had Damian Farinola advance three rounds deep and Edgar Lopez move into the second round.

Farinola picked up his first win of the event over Portugal's Ricardo Jorge (4-6, 6-2, 6-1) before picking off Craig Klein in the second round (6-2, 6-4). He fell one round later to eventual draw winner Skander Mansouri of Tunisia (5-7, 6-3, 7-6(8)).

Meanwhile, Lopez picked up his win over Canada's Stewart Block (6-1, 7-5) before falling to Jonathan Ho (6-0, 6-1) in the second round.

"This is a great way to end the fall and start building for the winter and spring," Jeffrey said. "Now we have four guys with ATP rankings and success in the past with ATP points. As a former ATP ranked player, this is the environment I worked hard to build. I can see it starting to unfold and I'm proud of the guys for buying in."

The futures event closes out the fall slate for the Ragin' Cajuns. They will kick off their spring slate on January 9 in Tallahassee, Fla., as part of the Florida State Invitational. They will host their first home event on January 17 against Lamar before heading west where they will take on national No. 1 USC.

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Players Mentioned

Damian Farinola

Edgar Lopez

Jake Wynan