University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's tennis student-athlete Niklas Gerdes won two more matches today at the 2019 Saint Francis Health System/ITA Men's All-American Championships in Tulsa, Okla.

The senior from Geestland, Germany, advances to the qualifying draw as one of 16 to battle through the pre-qualifying stage. 

The qualifying draw has 112 automatic, at-large and wild card selections, plus the 16 players from prequalifying tournament.  Individuals must win three rounds to advance to the main draw on Oct. 9-13.

Gerdes opened with a straight-set win over Auburn's Tim Dollman (7-6 (3), 6-0).  He followed that with a strong (6-0, 6-4) win over Pepperdine's Tim Zeitvogel.

His first match in the qualifying draw is a tough one against fifth-seeded Nick Stachowiak of Duke.  First serve is set for 10:30 a.m. (E.D.T.) on Monday, Oct. 7. 

Sophomores Kerim Hyatt and Tomas Rodriguez both lost their third round matches today.  Hyatt fell in straight sets to William Howells of Notre Dame (6-3, 7-5), while Rodriguez fell in a three-set battle against St. John's Aditya Vashistha (4-6, 6-4, 6-4).

It will be a quick turnaround on Monday for Gerdes.  He and Rodriguez were on-site alternates for the doubles brackets and are now in the pre-qualifying draw.  They take on Arizona's Filip Malbasic and Jonas Ziverts at 4:00 p.m.

Hyatt and Senior Simon Bustamante are also on-site alternates and could be added to the bracket in the morning. Due to weather conditions, the pre-qualifying singles consolation matches were all cancelled.  

Round of 64 – Niklas Gerdes (UTC) def. Tim Dollman (Auburn) – 7-6 (3), 6-0
Round of 32 – Niklas Gerdes (UTC) def. Tim Zeitvogel (Pepperdine) – 6-0, 6-4

Round of 64 – William Howells (Notre Dame) def. Kerim Hyatt (UTC) – 6-3, 7-5
Round of 64 - Aditya Vashistha (St. John's) def. Tomas Rodriguez (UTC) – 4-6, 6-4, 6-4