Oct. 4, 2011

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TULSA, Okla. - California men's tennis sophomore Ben McLachlan upset No. 113-ranked Ben Chen of Texas in the first round of qualifying singles matches at the 2011 ITA Men's All-American Tennis Championships on Mon., Oct. 3, at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center. The second-year Golden Bear fended off a second-set run by Chen to secure a 6-2, 7-6 win with a 7-4 victory in the tiebreaker.

McLachlan will move on to face Johan Backstrom of Mississippi in the second round at 9:30 a.m. CT on Tue., Oct. 4. Backstrom earned his spot in the qualifier by way of the pre-qualifying tournament.

No. 79-ranked junior Christoffer Konigsfeldt won the first set of his first-round match against No. 97-ranked Juan Melian-Puigventos of Georgia Tech, 6-3, but Melian-Puigventos split the match with a 6-3 win in the second set. Konigsfeldt couldn't advance as the Yellow Jacket came up with a 6-2 win in the third to close out the match.

Play continues with the second round of qualifying singles on Tue., Oct. 4. McLachlan will team with junior Carlos Cueto to play in the second round of qualifying doubles matches. The two received a first-round bye and will face Christian Gonzales and Jordan Kelly-Houston of Florida State in a 4:30 p.m. CT match.

The main draw in both singles and doubles will begin on Thursday (Oct. 6). No. 26-ranked Cueto and No. 45-ranked senior Nick Andrews already hold spots in the main singles draw. The No. 5-ranked duo of Andrews and Konigsfeldt are also set to participate in the doubles main draw. For more information on the 2011 ITA All-American Championships, please visit www.itatennis.com.

2011 ITA Men's All-American Tennis Championships
Michael D. Case Tennis Center | Tulsa, Okla.
Monday, Oct. 3, 2011

Singles Qualifying First Round
Ben McLachlan (CAL) def. No. 113 Ben Chen (TEX), 6-2, 7-6(4)
No. 97 Juan Melian-Puigventos (GT) def. No. 79 Christoffer Konigsfeldt (CAL), 3-6, 6-3, 6-2