Oct. 15, 2004

Midland, Texas - Pramod Dabir and Evan Zeder opened play today at the Midland Invitational in Midland, Texas. The pair joined forces in doubles play and won their first round match, while both struggled in singles play in the first two rounds on day one.

"They didn't have the best day, but I think they played well enough at the end of the day to have a good feeling going into tomorrow," student assistant Michael Calkins said. "The positive thing at this time is that they are finding things they need to get better at. They now can focus more on those things the rest of the weekend and in practice next week before Regionals."

Dabir and Zeder looked to be on the same page in their first match playing together as they defeated Ikaika Jobe/Ehren Vaughn from Boise State in their first round match 8-3. Dabir/Zeder face Adam Loucks and Aaron Badart from USC tomorrow in the second round tomorrow afternoon.

In singles, No. 68 Dabir seemed to be heading for big things after his first round victory over Ignadio Melus from Lamar 6-4, 6-2, but fell in the second match to Lars Poerschke of Baylor 7-6, 6-1. Dabir will play in the back draw tomorrow against USC's Adam Loucks at 9 a.m. CST. Zeder did not have the kind day he would have liked as he fell in his first round match to Texas Tech's Bojan Szumanski 6-2, 6-1. In the back draw he faced Michal Kokta from Baylor and came up short, losing 7-5, 3-6, 6-4.

Midland Invitational Results
Singles:
No. 68 Pramod Dabir (ILL) def. Ignadio Melus (Lamar); 6-4, 6-2
Lars Poerschke (Baylor) def. No. 68 Pramod Dabir (ILL); 7-6, 6-1
Bojan Szumanski (Texas Tech) def. Evan Zeder (ILL); 6-2, 6-1
Michal Kokta (Baylor) def. Evan Zeder (ILL); 7-5, 3-6, 6-4

Doubles:
Evan Zeder/Pramod Dabir def. Ikaika Jobe/Ehren Vaughn (Boise St.); 8-3