Oct. 13, 2011

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Sophomore Axel Lagerlof won a pair of matches today in the qualifying draw to advance to the bracket final for a chance to advance to the main draw of ITA Midwest Regional.

"Axel did a great job winning both of matches today and he's got a great shot at advancing to the main draw tomorrow," recapped Head Coach Patrick Fisher at the end of the day. "He didn't play his best tennis today but he played smart tennis and worked to his advantage."

Lagerlof, a native of Malmo, Sweden, won his first match of day over Notre Dame's Michael Fredericka 6-1, 6-2. Against Skip Span of Illinois State, Lagerlof quickly found himself in a hole, down 5-1. The sophomore bounced back to win the next six games to take the set, 7-5, and won his second set, 6-1.

"I think Axel struggled at first adjusting his game since his opponent was a lefty, but he did a great job making the necessary adjustments and taking the match," said Fisher.

Teammates Max Phillips and Roman Turtygin also played matches today but both fell in the first round. Phillips fell to Wisconsin's Jack Larsen 6-3, 6-1 and Turtygin was defeated by Green Bay's Craig Cox, 7-5, 6-1.

Lagerlof will begin the day with a match against hometown player No. 9 Wyatt Lippert of Ohio State at 7 a.m. central, while Maksym Bartiuk will open play at 11 a.m. against No. 14 Sam Keeton of Notre Dame.

All main draw matches can be followed via live stats at OhioStateBuckeyes.com.