MT Records Strong Performances at ITA All

MT Records Strong Performances at ITA All-American Championships

Devin Badenhorst earns qualifying bid to 2025 NCAA Individual Championships

Share:

Men's Tennis 9/29/2025 4:46:00 PM

TULSA, Okla. – Baylor men's tennis capped off an impressive week at the ITA All-American Championships with standout runs in the singles competition, highlighted by a main draw semifinal appearance from junior Devin Badenhorst that qualified him to the 2025 NCAA Individual Championships later in the fall.

Overall, Baylor left Tulsa with 14 ranked singles wins from four different Bears through the competition held from Sept. 20-28 at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center.

Badenhorst, ranked No. 17 nationally, advanced to the semifinals of the main draw singles after defeating No. 95 Mario Martinez Serrano (Mississippi State) in three sets, No. 92 Luca Pow (Wake Forest) in straight sets, No. 33 Vignesh Gogineni (Yale), 6-1, 7-5, in the Round of 16, and No. 66 Matthew Forbes (Michigan State) in the quarterfinals.

With the victory over Forbes, Badenhorst clinched an automatic berth to the 2025 NCAA Individual Championships, which will be held in Lake Nona, Fla. at the USTA National Campus in November. He ultimately fell in the semifinals to No. 4 Aidan Kim (Ohio State) in a tight three-set battle, 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4.

In qualifying singles, both No. 60 Connor Van Schalkwyk and No. 101 Alexandru Chirita punched their way into the main draw. Van Schalkwyk knocked off Bryan Cortes Hernandez (Mississippi State), 7-5, 6-4, before outlasting No. 103 William Jansen (Georgia) in a three-set thriller, 7-6(8), 2-6, 6-3. Chirita earned his spot by defeating Henrik Bladelius (Clemson), 7-5, 2-6, 6-2, and then taking down No. 118 Jelani Sarr (Arizona State), 6-4, 6-2.

In the main draw, No. 60 Van Schalkwyk recorded a signature victory over No. 38 Roan Jones (North Carolina) in the opening round, before dropping a three-set contest to Kim in the Round of 32. No. 59 Zsombor Velcz nearly upset No. 36 Emon van Loben Sels (UCLA) before falling, 6-3, 5-7, 7-5.

The Bears also impressed in the consolation draw. No. 101 Alexandru Chirita went on a hot streak, taking down four ranked opponents of No. 43 Amar Tahirovic (Bucknell), No. 19 Spencer Johnson (UCLA), his own teammate of No. 60 Van Schalkwyk and No. 21 Aleksa Krivokapic (Purdue) en route to the quarterfinals, where he fell to UCLA's van Loben Sels in three sets. Velcz added a ranked win of his own, taking down No. 11 Benito Sanchez Martinez (Mississippi State), while Van Schalkwyk beat No. 51 Bryce Nakashima (Ohio State) in consolation play.

In doubles action, Arman Zamani and Louis Bowden advanced to the Round of 16 in prequalifying with a win over Miami's Nacho Serra Sanchez and Rafael Segado Esteve. Baylor's main draw tandems — Badenhorst/Koenig (No. 5 nationally) and Velcz/Van Schalkwyk (No. 28 nationally) — each fell in opening-round contests.

DRAWS AND RESULTS

Prequalifying Singles R256:

Manuel Plunger (Clemson) def. Luc Koenig 7-6(3), 6-3

Tanapatt Nirundorn (Florida) def. Louis Bowden 6-3, 6-1

Prequalifying Singles Consolation:

Nikolay Sysoev (Nebraska) def. Luc Koenig 6-4, 6-1

Qualifying Singles R64:

#60 Connor Van Schalkwyk def. Bryan Cortes Hernandez (MSU) 7-5, 6-4

#101 Alexandru Chirita def. Henrik Bladelius (Clemson) 7-5, 2-6, 6-2

Qualifying Singles R32:

#60 Connor Van Schalkwyk def. #103 William Jansen (Georgia) 7-6(8), 2-6, 6-3

#101 Alexandru Chirita def. #118 Jelani Sarr (ASU) 6-4, 6-2

Main Draw Singles R64:

#20 Nicolas Kotzen (Columbia) def. #101 Alexandru Chirita 6-1, 6-3

#36 Emon van Loben Sels (UCLA) def. #59 Zsombor Velcz 6-3, 5-7, 7-5

#17 Devin Badenhorst def. #95 Mario Martinez Serrano (MSU) 6-3, 4-6, 6-2

#60 Connor Van Schalkwyk def. #38 Roan Jones (UNC) 6-4, 7-6(4)

Main Draw Singles R32:

#4 Aidan Kim (OSU) def. #60 Connor Van Schalkwyk 6-1, 3-6, 6-0

#17 Devin Badenhorst def. #92 Luca Pow (Wake Forest) 6-3, 6-4

Main Draw Singles R16:

#17 Devin Badenhorst def. #33 Vignesh Gogineni (Yale) 6-1, 7-5

Main Draw Singles Quarterfinals:

#17 Devin Badenhorst def. #66 Matthew Forbes (Michigan State) 7-6(8), 6-3 (**Qualified to NCAA Individual Championships**)

Main Draw Singles Semifinals:

#4 Aidan Kim (OSU) def. #17 Devin Badenhorst 6(5)-7, 6-3, 6-4

Consolation Main Draw Singles R32 Qualifying:

#101 Alexandru Chirita def. #43 Amar Tahirovic (Bucknell) 6(3)-7, 7-6(3), 6-3

#59 Zsombor Velcz def. #11 Benito Sanchez Martinez (MSU) 6-3, 6-4

Consolation Main Draw Singles R32:

#60 Connor Van Schalkwyk def. #51 Bryce Nakashima (OSU) 6-4, 6-2

#101 Alexandru Chirita def. #19 Spencer Johnson (UCLA) 6-1, 6-4

#59 Zsombor Velcz def. #22 Trevor Svajda (SMU) [Withdrew, injury]

Consolation Main Draw Singles R16 Qualifying:

#101 Alexandru Chirita def. #60 Connor Van Schalkwyk (BU) 6-3, 6-3

Nikita Filin (OSU) def. #59 Zsombor Velcz 6-3, 6-0

Consolation Main Draw Singles R16:

#101 Alexandru Chirita def. #21 Aleksa Krivokapic (Purdue) 6-4, 6-4

Consolation Main Draw Singles Quarterfinals:

#36 Emon van Loben Sels (UCLA) def. #101 Alexandru Chirita 6-4, 4-6, 6-4

Prequalifying Doubles R32:

Arman Zamani/Louis Bowden def. Nacho Serra Sanchez/ Rafael Segado Esteve (Miami) 6-3, 7-6(8)

Prequalifying Doubles R16:

Marko Mesarovic/Edoardo Cherie Ligniere (Clemson) def. Arman Zamani/Louis Bowden 7-5, 6-3

Main Draw Doubles R32:

#20 Billy Blaydes/Freddy Blaydes (Auburn) def. #28 Zsombor Velcz/Connor Van Schalkwyk 4-6, 7-6(5), 10-7

Brandon Caprico/Nikita Filin (OSU) def. #5 Devin Badenhorst/Luc Koenig 6-2, 6-3

- BaylorBears.com -

Click here to read article