Tournament Central

TULSA, Okla. – No. 79 Sebastian Heim came from behind to win his first-round qualifying singles match at the Saint Francis Health System ITA Men's All-American Championships Monday at the University of Tulsa's Michael D. Case Tennis Center.

Heim, a junior from Speyer, Germany, defeated 118th-ranked Sameer Kumar of Stanford, 1-6, 7-5, 6-4. After dropping the first set, Heim found himself down a break at 4-5 in the second, but kept his focus and responded to the pressure to pull out the victory.

This was Heim's first competitive match since April as he spent the summer recovering from an injury.

"Sebastian typically wins with his conditioning, but unable to train this summer, he had to dig deep and win with his heart and mind," UC Irvine head coach Mike Saunders said. "He is a joy to coach because he's collaborative, cerebral and revels in the battle."

Heim will return to the court tomorrow at 8 a.m. (CT) to face No. 110 Adam Moundir (Old Dominion) in the second round. The third round will also be held on Tuesday (12:30 p.m.) with the 16 winners advancing to the main draw, Oct. 6-10.

Heim and classmate Luca Marquard also started play in the qualifying doubles draw today. The duo put up a fight, but ultimately fell to 29th-ranked Alex Sendegeya/Bjorn Thomson of Texas Tech, 3-6, 6-4, 1-0 (8).

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