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UVA’s Thai-Son Kwiatkowski wins Winston-Salem Futures Doubles Title

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virginia tennisUVA men’s tennis player Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (Charlotte, N.C.) won the doubles title on Friday (June 17) at the Winston-Salem Futures, a $25,000 ITF Men’s Pro Circuit tournament, being held at the Wake Forest Tennis Center in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Kwiatkowski and his partner Jared Hiltzik, who graduated from Illinois last month, defeated Austin Smith and Dennis Uspensky 6-4, 6-2 in Friday’s final. The duo opened the tournament with a 6-0, 7-6 (3) victory over Hiltzik’s brother and Illini teammate, Aron Hiltzik, and Ezekiel Clark. The duo defeated Alex Kuznetsov and Rhyne Williams, 7-5, 6-3, in the quarterfinals before taking down top-seeded Peter Polansky and Eric Quigley, 6-1, 6-4, in the semis.

This is the second-straight doubles draw that Kwiatkowski has won at a professional tournament after winning the Charlottesville Futures doubles title last weekend alongside partner Mac Styslinger.

Fellow Cavalier Luca Corinteli (Alexandria, Va.) also competed in the doubles main draw, partnering with LSU’s Justin Butsch to advance to the second round with a 6-7 (6), 6-2, 10-8 over Adam Eilliget and Korey Lovett before falling to second-seeded Brandon Anandan and Sekou Bangoura in the quarterfinals.

Kwiatkowski also competed in the singles main draw, falling in the first round to eighth-seeded Dennis Nevolo, 6-2, 7-5. Corinteli advanced to the qualifying final, but did not make the main singles draw of the tournament.

The $25K Winston-Salem Futures is an ITF Men’s Circuit professional tennis tournament featuring some of the rising stars of the tennis world all looking to increase their ATP points and improve their world rankings while battling for a share of the prize money. The ITF Men’s Circuit offers 600+ tournaments spanning 77 countries that enable players to eventually reach the higher-level tournaments on the ATP World Tour.

The tournament was also part of the USTA Pro Circuit College Series, a circuit of more than 10 tournaments held on or near college campuses nationwide to provide a platform for college players to gain pro experience and earn the ATP or WTA ranking points needed to transition to the pro ranks. The Winston-Salem Futures was the second event of the Collegiate Series, following last week’s $25,000 Charlottesville Futures tournament.

 

Kwiatkowski Named ACC Men’s Tennis Scholar-Athlete of the Year

Virginia junior Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (Charlotte, N.C.) has been recognized as the 2016 Atlantic Coast Conference Men’s Tennis Scholar-Athlete of the Year and heads up the sport’s All-ACC Academic Team, as announced this week by commissioner John Swofford.

Virginia leads all schools with five selections to the All-ACC Academic Team with senior Mac Styslinger (Birmingham, Ala.), juniors J.C. Aragone (Yorba Linda, Calif.) and Luca Corinteli (Alexandria, Va.) and sophomore Henrik Wiersholm (Kirkland, Wash.) joining Kwiatkowski on the 20-player team.

Kwiatkowski, who earned his second-straight ITA Singles All-American honor after advancing to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Singles Championship, finished the season ranked No. 7 nationally. The NCAA Tournament Outstanding Player for the national champion Cavaliers spent the entire season ranked in the top-10, amassing a 39-8 record. Kwiatkowski and Styslinger finished the season ranked No. 19 at doubles.Kwiatkowski is the fourth player in the history of the ITA All-American to win both the tournament’s singles and doubles title in the same year.

Kwiatkowski was named to Virginia’s athletics honor roll in both the fall of 2015 and the spring of 2016.  He is enrolled in the prestigious McIntire School of Commerce at UVA, which has been ranked as the nation’s No. 2 business undergraduate program by Bloomberg Businessweek.

The ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards were established in September 2007 to be awarded annually to the top junior or senior student-athlete in their respective sports. Candidates for the awards must have maintained a 3.0 grade point average for their careers as well as a 3.0 for each of the last two semesters.

Minimum academic requirements for selection to the All-ACC Academic Team are a 3.0 grade point average for the previous semester and a 3.0 cumulative average during one’s academic career. Athletic achievements during the most recent season are also considered in selecting the All-ACC Academic Team.

The ACC Honor Roll, which recognizes all conference student-athletes with a grade point average of 3.0 for the current academic year, will be released in July.

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