MURFREESBORO, Tenn. -- Middle Tennessee's Andreas Siljestrom lost in straight sets Monday morning in the finals of the ITA Southeast Regional at the Racquet Club in Memphis, Tenn., but still qualified for the ITA National Indoor Championships in two weeks. Siljestrom dropped a 5-7, 3-6, decision to 43rd-ranked Erling Tveit of Ole Miss in the finals after winning five straight matches to reach the finale of the 128-player tournament. The junior automatically qualified for the singles field at the ITA National Indoor Championships in two weeks by making Monday's final.
The Stockholm, Sweden, turned his fall around in the regionals, going 5-1 after posting only three wins in seven matches leading into the tournament. He defeated a pair of ranked foes during his run to the finals (No. 40 Vlad Obradovic - Florida, No. 32 Joseph Jung - Alabama), as well as South Florida's Dirk Britzen, who had not lost in the fall and took out Blue Raider Brandon Allan in the first round of the tourney.
"I've always told Andreas he could be a good singles player and probably a great player, but I'm not sure he believed," head coach Dale Short said. "I think the [doubles] win in the All-American [Championships] with Marco [Born] really helped his confidence, not only in doubles but also in singles.
"His play was very good throughout the tournament, except for his first match when he really struggled. The loss [Monday] does not diminish his accomplishments for the week."
Siljestrom will play both singles and doubles in the second leg of the collegiate grand slam, the ITA National Indoor Championships, set for November 3-6 in Columbus, Ohio. He and Marco Born automatically qualified in doubles by winning the Polo Ralph Lauren ITA All-American Championships earlier this month.
Full results from the ITA Southeast Regional may be found at http://tournaments.usta.com/tournaments/TournamentHome/Tournament.aspx?T=44010.
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