Vucic Makes Quarters in South Carolina

Ilija Vucic is through to the quarterfinals after a string of impressive performances at the ITF Junior Circuit event in South Carolina.

The Monte Carlo Tennis Academy star followed an impressive straight sets victory over Russian Evgeny Belov on Wednesday with an equally dynamic 6-3, 6-4 win over American Ryan Lipman.

Ilija, the No. 4 seed, came back from match point down against Alexander Domijan in the first round and then booked his place in the last 16 with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Belov in the second.

“When I broke Belov’s serve at 3-3 in the first set he was mentally broken,” said the 17-year-old from Serbia. “My serve was good from the beginning to the end.”

He then saw off Lipman to reach the quarterfinals.

“I played pretty good today with a low percentage of unforced errors,” said Ilija. “I was serving pretty well and he broke me only once.

Ilija will now face either American Frank Carleton or his 12th seeded compatriot Robert Jonannes Van Overbeek for a place in the semifinals.