Shubert grabs second title in Utah Fall Tennis Classic

PROVO -- Thomas Shubert battled teammate Evan Urbina to take the Utah Fall Tennis Classic singles title Saturday for the second time.

The Cougar duel lasted almost two hours Saturday morning as No. 1 seed Shubert and No. 2 seed Urbina faced off in the three-set match.

“I thought they played really, really well for this time in the season,” assistant coach Zack Warren said. “It was great to see a BYU player win the tournament. But it’s always tough to see one of your players lose, especially when they both played with so much professionalism. I think they both represented BYU in a really good way.”

Shubert took the first set 6-2, then lost the second set to Urbina 2-6. Urbina took the lead early in the final set, but Shubert came back to tie the set 2-2. From there, Shubert took the next three games and won the set 6-3.

“Evan played a great match,” Shubert said. “It’s very tough playing a teammate. Very stressful. Evan brings a lot of energy, a lot of fight. That’s why he’s a Cougar.”

Shubert and Urbina are both ranked in the top 10 of the Mountain Region.

The last time Shubert grabbed the Utah Fall Tennis Classic singles title was 2008, defeating Christian Hodel of Boise State.

Keaton Cullimore and John Pearce won the doubles title Friday evening, defeating Matthew Cowley and Garrett Labarre 8-4. Cullimore and Pearce won against Cougars Patrick Kawka and Tyler Loong in the semifinals 8-6, and Cowley and Labarre defeated Shubert and Urbina 9-8.

Shubert and the Cougars are now preparing for the ITA All-American tournament, which will begin Oct. 2 in Tulsa, Okla.

For more in formation on the tournament and a complete tournament bracket, click here.