The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

AFTER completing a successful year at the University of South Florida as a member of their Bulls men’s tennis team, Justin Roberts is hoping that he can take the momentum over to the International Tennis Federation’s Futures Tour.

In his second straight tournament in Spain, Roberts advanced to the main draw of singles in Martos, Spain, over the weekend.

He got a bye in the first round last week but pulled off a 6-3, 6-0 decision over Philip Sikman from Great Britain and 1-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4) over Vidit Vaghela of Indiana to get into the main draw.

“The first Futures, I had a rough loss, in the last round of the qualifying, but this one was much better,” Roberts said. “It was good for me to flip the script this week and play much better than I did last week. It’s good to have some progress.”

The week before, Roberts got eliminated in the qualifying round after he lost 6-1, 6-4 to Jose Maria Martin de Olivia Carr in Huelva, Spain.

“In these types of tournaments, the environment is quite different. For the most part, it’s individual and that is what I like to do,” he stressed. “I enjoy myself when I’m playing in these type of tournaments.”

As he waits for his first round main draw match this week, Roberts said he’s going to take it one match and one point at a time and see if he can continue his string of victories in both singles and doubles.

“My collegiate season was very good. It has given me a lot of confidence,” he said. “I got injured at the end, but my first tournament back wasn’t what I had hoped for. But I got my confidence back in the qualifying singles here after beating two quality players.

“So if I can just stay in the moment and not get ahead of myself, I should be okay. I’m looking forward to doing really well here in this tournament this week. Hopefully, I can be successful in winning all f my matches.”

The 20-year-old Roberts is currently ranked at 1393 in singles, a little higher than 1202 he was pegged at in 2016.

Roberts, coached by Ashley Fisher at USF, helped the Bulls to their fourth straight conference title with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Danny Kerznerman of UCF.

He also helped the Bulls to an upset over No.16 Mississippi State with a 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 win at No.2 earning him the American Athletic Conference Player of the Week.