Sachire advances to Rolex Invitational second round
By RACHEL BIBER
Sports Writer
Senior All-American Ryan Sachire didn't need the luck of the Irish.
Solid play and intensity landed him in the second round of the Rolex National Inter-collegiate Indoor Champ-ionships in Dallas with an upset over Arkansas' sixth-seeded Oskar Johans-son.
The 14th-ranked Sachire, making his fourth appearance at the Rolex National Inter-collegiates, rallied for a 6-7 (7-2), 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) win over eighth-ranked Johans-son to set up a second round battle with LSU's 13th-ranked Tom Hand on Friday.
Hand advanced with a 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 win over SMU's Dustin Mauck in the first round of the three-day event.
"It was a tough match," Sachire said. "Both of us serve really well. It was one of those matches that was pretty intense and basically jeopardized the whole match with one break of serve. We both played really well and kept our cool through the match."
Sachire, the lone Irish representative in the event, did not flinch throughout the tight three-set match.
In the nearly three-hour marathon match, he never surrendered a service game and faced just two break points.
Irish coach Bob Bayliss was impressed by Sachire's high level of play, and sees Sachire's four years of dedication and hard work paying off.
"I thought [Sachire] played extremely well. He has worked for four years to become more aggressive," Bayliss said. "He was able to assert himself and come to the net and that was the difference in the match."
For the first time in his four appearances of the collegiate grand slam event, Sachire succeeded in conquering his first round opponent.
His first two appearances were spoiled by first round defeats at the hands of UCLA's Kevin Kim in 1997 and Vince Allegre in 1998.
1999 proved to be more successful for Sachire, who won the consolation singles draw after dropping his first round match.
Sachire looks to improve on his two previous showings at the grand slam events of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association of this year.
The Irish captain reached the semifinals of the T. Rowe Price National Clay Court Championships in September and lost in the second round of the ITA All-American Championships in October.
His first round upset, which improved his record to 15-5, leaves no doubt that Sachire is playing at a level that can take him to the top in the third leg of the grand slam events.
The Rolex National Intercollegiates feature an exclusive field of 32 singles players, who qualify by way of ITA Regional Championships. The championships are held nationwide during the fall. The Rolex National Small College champions the winners of the first 1999-2000 ITA Grand Slam events and at-large and wild card selections made by the ITA National Committee.
With each appearance at the prestigious annual tournament, Sachire has shown his steady improvement and formidable game.
Heading into the round of 16 is unknown territory for him at this event, but the will and strength required to advance in the tournament is something this Irishman is known to possess.
However, the second round matchup against LSU's Hand won't be easy.
Hand, who played in last year's Wimbledon, possesses a dominant style of play that is going to force Sachire to take charge of the match.
"Tom Hand is an aggressive player," coach Bayliss said. "He is going to come at Ryan. I think he'll need to dictate play to win."
All Sports Stories for Friday, February 4, 2000
