TULSA, Okla. – Santa Clara senior John Lamble won his first match in the ITA All-American Championships Qualifying Singles Draw on Monday. Lamble topped Russell Bader from Penn State in straight sets and advanced to the second round.
Lamble drew the No. 14 seed in the qualifying draw of the competitive tournament which features the nation's top players. The senior was ranked 64th in the ITA preseason poll.
The Broncos' No. 1 singles and doubles player jumped out to a solid start and took the first set 6-3. Bader fought back to make the match close, but Lamble prevailed in the tiebreak for a 7-6 (3) second set win.
Lamble will take on Stefan Lindmark from Mississippi on Tuesday as he looks to return to the main draw. Following the qualifying matches, a field of 64 singles players and 32 doubles teams will compete in the main draw on Thursday, Oct. 3.
Lindmark defeated Michael Sosnowski 6-0, 6-0 and Zach Wilder in the pre-qualifying tournament, advancing to the qualifying draw. In his qualifying match on Monday, Lindmark defeated Jordan Angus of Mississippi State.
After starting in the main draw last year, Lamble dropped his first-round match to University of Georgia All-American and 10th-ranked KU Singh, and fell in a three-set battle against No. 65 Enej Bonin of Denver University.
The Saratoga, Calif. native finished the 2013 season ranked No. 89 nationally by the ITA, was named First-Team All-WCC and received WCC Player of the Month honors for March. He racked up a 20-14 overall record which placed him second on the team in wins and he went 15-9 in dual matches.
In doubles, Lamble was All-WCC honorable mention with Ilya Osintsev. The duo went 10-6 playing No. 1 for the Broncos, and Lamble finished 14-9 overall including several matches at No. 2.
To find out more about the All-American Championships and Lamble's draw, click here.
