Feb. 7, 2007

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Santa Clara University sophomore tennis player Brian Brogan won five matches over three days to reach the final of the SAP Open pre-qualifying tournament and qualify for the main qualifying draw for the annual ATP event. The SAP Open, an ATP tour event, takes place from Feb. 12-18 at HP Pavilion. The qualifying draw takes place at the Courtside Club in Los Gatos, Brogan's home club, on Saturday, Feb. 10 and Sunday, Feb. 11. If Brogan can get back in time from the Broncos dual match Saturday morning against Arizona, he will participate in qualifying. He would need to win three matches in qualifying to earn a spot in the main SAP Open field.

"I am glad that I was able to qualify for this event, especially since it is at my home courts," said Brogan. "I had to play a lot of matches in the pre-qualifying tournament plus our matches against Pepperdine and Irvine last weekend. It was all worth it though. Hopefully I can get back in time to play. It would be a great experience playing against guys ranked in the top 300 in the world."

On Monday, Feb. 5 Brogan took a midterm exam and then headed directly to the pre-qualifying tournament in Sunnyvale to begin play. He swept to two convincing wins, 6-0, 6-0 and 6-1, 6-1 to earn a spot in the third round against the tournament's No. 6 seed, Shibu Lal. After defeating Lal in a two-hour match on Tuesday morning, Brogan faced No. 2 seed Timour Dick in the afternoon in the quarterfinals. The match went back and forth with each player winning a set 7-5. Brogan took control in the third set and closed out Dick 6-4 in the third to win the match in three hours and 40 minutes.

"That three-hour 40-minute match was tough," said Brogan. "I had been playing a lot of tennis so I had tired legs in the first set, but I think that I recovered well after that. I just bore down and told myself not to lose."

Brogan then won his semifinal match against Shane Templeman 6-2, 6-4 to book his ticket to the main qualifying draw. The pre-qualifying tournament finalists were each guaranteed a spot in the qualifying tournament. With his place secured Brogan then retired against Brad Weston in the final so that he had energy left for the Broncos trip this weekend to play Arizona State and Arizona.

Brogan grew up in Los Gatos playing at the Courtside Club and served as a ball kid on a number of occasions at the main qualifying tournament for the SAP Open. The main qualifying draw features players ranked between 200-400 on the ATP Tour. Four players from the qualifying tournament will earn a spot in the tournament next week. Brogan would have to win three matches to earn a spot in the SAP Open main draw. The SAP Open features ATP stars such as Andy Roddick, Marat Safin, Andy Murray and James Blake.

For more information on the SAP Open and the qualifying draw, go to www.sapopentennis.com.