Shane and Kwiatkowski Advance to Semifinals of the American Collegiate

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Sept. 10, 2015

QUEENS, N.Y. – Virginia men’s tennis senior Ryan Shane (Falls Church, Va.) and junior Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (Charlotte, N.C.) won their quarterfinal matches at the second annual American Collegiate Invitational being held Sept. 10-12 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens, N.Y.

Shane, the top-seeded player in the eight-man draw, earned a 6-2, 6-1 victory over UCLA’s Dennis Mkrtchian to advance to the semifinals.

“It is an honor to play here at the American Collegiate,” Shane said. “I think this event is good for college tennis in general because a lot of people can come watch. I think the USTA is giving college tennis a great way to showcase the talent that our players have. For me, today ,I didn’t serve that well, but I was proud of the way I fought and stayed in points and tried to come out with more of plan and not just hitting the ball.”

Kwiatkowski, the No. 3 seed, earned a 6-2, 3-6, 7-5 victory over Illinois’ Jared Hiltzik.

“I felt the match was in his control after I was down a break late in the third set,” Kwiatkowski said. “It could have gone either way. I just tried to play my game and hit a lot of forehands and use my weapons.”

Shane will face fourth-seeded Gonzales Austin of Vanderbilt in Friday’s semifinal. Kwiatkowski will take on UCLA’s Mackenzie McDonald, the No. 2 seed.

The matches of the American Collegiate are being played on the grounds of the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center as part of the competitions that accompany the US Open.

Shane played in the main draw of the US Open men’s singles, dropping his opening-round match to No. 27 Jeremy Chardy, 6-2, 6-1, 6-7, 6-2 on Monday, August 31.

The men’s/women’s American Collegiate Invitational champions will receive qualifying wild cards entries for the 2016 US Open. The champions will also get wild cards into two USTA Pro Circuit events, while each runner-up will get one.