Men's Tennis | 10/23/2012 4:45:00 AM
PEMBROKE PINES, Fla. -- Thomas Hipp hasn't given up on the game he made a name for himself in Miami Shores. In fact, Barry University men's tennis assistant coach is still playing at a high level.
Hipp advanced to the finals of the Pembroke Lakes Tennis Championships Monday before falling to Miami's Jean Yves Aubone, 6-3, 6-1 in the title match.
Four Barry players reached the quarterfinals or beyond in the 54-player field. Barry's Kevin Sielmann and Fabian Groetsch brandished the biggest racquets outside of their coach.
Aubone survived a second-round scare from Franco Echenique, winning 6-1, 6-7 (12-10), 6-1, before going on to beat three Barry players.
Sielmann defeated teammate and top-seeded Marco Mokrzycki, 7-6 (7-5), 6-1 in the quarterfinals before falling to Aubone, 6-1, 6-1 in the semifinals. Aubone defeated Barry's Renato Lombardi, 6-3, 6-3, in the quarterfinals.
Groetsch, the tournament's No. 2 seed rattled off three wins to reach the semifinals, where he fell to Hipp, 7-6 (8-6), 6-1. Groetsch beat teammate Romain Costamagna in the third round, 6-2, 6-2. Groetsch followed that up with a quarterfinal win over Barry's Eduardo Alfonzo, 7-5, 6-2. Alfonzo beat sixth-seeded Sunny Isles junior Marc Losez, who reached the championship of the Nunez Open, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, in the second round.
Unseeded Hipp, an All-American at Barry in 2005-06, beat fourth-seeded Juan Rocha of Hollywood, Fla., 6-4, 6-3 in the quarters. Hipp also dusted off No. 7 seed Keith Gonzalez, of University Park, Md., 6-0, 6-1, in the second round.
Barry's individuals will compete in its final fall event Nov. 2 at the USTA Naples Invitational.
THOMAS HIPP VIDEO
