FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Sebastian Dominko ended his week in Arkansas last Saturday lifting his first professional title as he and former Notre Dame No. 1 player Axel Nefve won doubles in the M15 Fayetteville tournament.
The lefty duo began the week defeating the #2 seeds Siggsaard and Vale, both former collegiate players who are ranked #455 and #467 respectively in the world. Dominko and Nefve would win 6-3, 6-2 in the opening round. Next up, Cernoch, who recently graduated from North Carolina, and Bancila, a current Tulane player, would be another straight set victory to advance to the semifinals. In the semifinals, Dominko and Nefve would drop their only set of the week against a combination of current and former Oklahoma Sooners. After losing the first set 7-5, they would respond by winning the second and ride the momentum to a 10-8 victory and a birth in the championship match.
The championship match had them lining up across the net from top seeds Soto and Whitehouse, who are #236 and #286 in the ATP doubles rankings coming in to the week. A hot start for Dominko and Nefve would see them race out to a quick 6-2 first set win followed by a 6-4 second set would give them the victory and the title.
This is Dominko’s first ever professional title in singles or doubles. He made the finals in doubles in M15 Harlingen in October of 2022. This is Nefve’s second career title as he won his maiden pro title in doubles in Champaign earlier this year.
Dominko played singles as well where he won three total matches before falling to the eventual tournament champion and overall #3 seed. He would win two rounds in qualifying to advance into the main draw. First, a straight set win against former Texas Tech Red Raider Valiev and then a three-set battle against current Santa Clara senior would send Dominko through the qualifying portion of the tournament. He would win his first round main draw match 6-4, 7-6 over junior player Bigun before ending his singles tournament in the Round of 16.
His performance this week comes off the heels of his last professional event two weeks ago in Las Vegas where Dominko won 5 matches en route to the semifinals. He is 11-3 in singles this fall including his two ITF tournaments and the ITA All-American Championships.