TULSA, Okla. – After knocking off five ranked players, Ivan Salec’s (Oroslavje, Croatia) unbelievable run through the D'Novo ITA All-American Championships came to an end when the Radford junior retired (wo 0-4) from his match against No. 6 Dimitar Kutrovsky of Texas in the semifinals of the consolation bracket due to a back injury.
In eight matches this week, including four over the last two days, Salec defeated the 4th, 12th, 39th, 50th and 73rd ranked players in the country.
The two-time all-conference performer moved on to the main draw with wins over UCLA’s Amit Inbar (3-6, 7-5, 6-3), Virginia’s Houston Barrick (6-4, 6-0) and South Florida’s Wael Kilani, 6-1, 5-7, 7-6 (2), before falling in three sets (3-6, 6-2, 4-6) to Auburn’s top singles player, Tim Puetz, in the opening round Thursday.
Salec wasted little time shacking off his first setback as the 2008 Big South Freshman of the Year eliminated No. 4 Nate Schnugg (6-0, 6-7 (6), 6-2) of Georgia and No. 12 Austen Childs (6-4, 6-3) Friday, before defeating No. 39 Matt Brooklyn (6-3, 7-6 (3) of UCLA earlier today to advance to semifinals of the consolation bracket.