Florida State University Athletics
Florida State
ITA All-American Championships
Seminoles Wrap Up Competition at Bedford Cup and ITA All-American Championship
9/28/2025 2:34:00 PM | Men's Tennis
TALLAHASSEE – The Florida State men's tennis team concluded the first two competitions of the fall season on Sunday.
The Seminoles sent Corey Craig,Gabriele Brancetelli, Luis Felipe Miguel (Goiania, Brazil) (Goiania, Brazil), and Erik Schiessl to the ITA All-American Championship on September 20-28 in Tulsa. At the same time, Azariah Rusher, Justin Lyons, Mohammad Alkotop, and Oren Ezerzer competed at home for the Bedford cup on September 26-28.
No. 8 Craig took the round of 64 battle of the main singles draw into a tiebreaker against Alexander Frusina, 6-7, 7-6 (7), before dropping two straight sets to Vignesh Gogineni of Yale University, 2-6, 3-6.
Schiessl dropped his first match of the tournament in the singles qualifying round of 64 with a two-set loss to Roger Ferra Pascual of TCU (2-6, 1-6). Schiessl won the qualifiers round of 32 of the consolation round against Preston Stearns of Ohio State (6-4, 3-6, 6-2).
Brancetelli fell to Julian Alonso Vivanco of TCU in two sets (3-6, 2-6), before picking up his first win in three sets to Alex Finkelstein of SMU (3-6, 6-3, 6-2).
On Friday, Rusher, Lyons, Alkotop and Ezerzer highlighted the first day of the Bedford Cup, with all four finishing 3-0 in singles play. Lyons kicked off the tournament for FSU with a straight-set win over Stefan Correa of Florida Gulf Coast (6-4, 6-2).
Rusher also earned a dominant straight-set victory of FGCU's Christopher Smith (6-0, 6-0) and later partnered with Alkotop for a doubles win over Stavros Hadjivarnava and Harry Micahlowski from FGCU, 8-3.
In the afternoon, Ezerzer rallied for a straight-set singles victory before teaming up with Lyons for 8-4 doubles win against Rafael Segado Esteve and Mehdi Sadaoui of Miami.
Lyons capped off a strong day with another singles win, outlasting UCF's Luca Hotze in a tiebreaker: 6-7, 6-2, (10-6).
On Saturday, Alkotop, Rusher and Ezerzer extended their win streaks in the quarterfinals, once again going 3-0. Rusher and Mohammed then punched their ticket to the doubles final with a pair of wins over UCF's Kai--Luca Ampaw and Nicolas Oliveria, 8-1, 8-6.
Sunday's competition saw Alkotop and Rusher with a perfect 4-0 on the weekend in doubles after defeating Jonathan Baron/Tanner Povey of FGCU (8-6).
SINGLES (Bedford Cup)
Round of 32
Justin Lyons def. Stefan Correa (FGCU) 6-4, 6-2
Azariah Rusher def. Christopher Smith (FGCU) 6-0, 6-0
Oren Ezerzer def. Baron Jonathan (FGCU) 3-6, 6-3 (10)
Round of 16
Mohommad Alkotop def. Christian Kuehne (FGCU) 6-4, 6-3
Justin Lyons def. Luca Hotze (FGCU) 6-7, 6-2 (10)
Azariah Rusher def. Santiago Cote Padilla (Stetson) 6-2, 6-2
Oren Ezerzer def. Mihnea Maftei (Stetson) 6-2,6-1
Quarterfinal
Mohommad Alkotop def. Hugo Magnusson (FGCU) 6-1, 6-2
Azariah Rusher def. Oren Ezerzer (FSU) 6-0, 6-3
DOUBLES (Bedford Cup)
Round of 16
Justin Lyons/Oren Ezerzer def. Rafel Esteve Segado (UM) 8-4
Mohommad Alktop/ Azariah Rusher def. Stavros Hadjivarnava / Harry Michalowski (FGCU) 8-3
Quarterfinals & Semifinals
Stavros Hadjivarnava / Harry Michalowski def. Justin Lyons/Oren Ezerzer(FSU) 3-8
Mohommad Alkotop/ Azariah Rusher def. Kai-Luca Ampaw/ Nicolas Oliveira (UCF) 8-6
Finals
Mohommad Alkotop/ Azariah Rusher def. Jonathan Baron/Tanner Povey (FGCU) 8-6
The Seminoles will compete at ITA Regionals on October 9-13 in Gainesville, Florida.
For more information on the Florida State men's tennis program, check Seminoles.com and follow us on social media at Florida State Men's Tennis (FB) and FSUMTennis (IG and X).
Players Mentioned
