TULSA, Okla. – Sophomore Sebastian Dominko took to the courts in Tulsa for the ITA All-American Championships in his first collegiate event of the year. The event started with pre-qualifying and then qualifying earlier in the week for players not directly into the main draw based on the national rankings. Dominko was a direct acceptance in to the main draw and was seeded fourth overall.
The opening round of main draw action took place on Wednesday where Dominko took on Nicholas Herrera Cuesta of Denver. Cuesta came into the match nationally ranked at #111 and is the reigning 2023 Summit League Player of the Year. In the first set, Dominko would immediately jump in front by a 3-0 margin after breaking in the second game of the match. He rode that momentum to a 6-3 opening set win. The second set would be tight the whole way with the pair trading a single break of serve each before reaching a tiebreak which the Irish sophomore would take 9-7 to secure the 6-3, 7-6(7) match win.
In the round of 32, Dominko lined up against Samir Banerjee of Stanford who is ranked #29 in the country and was the junior Wimbledon singles champion in 2021. A tough first set would go the way of the defending Pac-12 Freshman of the Year by a 6-4 margin. Dominko got broken early in the second set and found himself trailing a set and 3-0 before making his comeback. He broke to get back on serve but serve from behind the remainder of the set. The sophomore from The University of Notre Dame found himself down match points in both the 4-5 and 5-6 service games, trailing 30-40 in each but managed to stave off all four match points to continue battling. He would win the tiebreak and the second set to send the match to deciding third set in which Dominko would run away with it and claim a 6-1 final set and the match victory.
Dominko’s run would come to an end in the round of 16 at the hands of Michigan State’s Ozan Baris who came in ranked #25 in the country. The Spartan would take a pair of 6-3 sets to secure the victory.
Next up for Dominko is a trip to Las Vegas to compete in the M15 Las Vegas tournament beginning October 16th. This event is a professional tournament with ATP ranking points available if you advance through main draw rounds.
Results:
First Round #5 Dominko (Notre Dame) def. #111 Cuesta (Denver) 6-3, 7-6(7)
Round of 32 #5 Dominko (Notre Dame) def. #29 Banerjee (Stanford) 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-1
Round of 16 #25 Baris (Michigan St.) def. #5 Dominko (Notre Dame) 6-3, 6-3