Florida’s Rybakov Wins USTA Pro Circuit Tennis $25K Stop in Buffalo

Floridian Alex Rybakov won his second career USTA Pro Circuit title on Sunday at the Sargent & Collins, LLP Men’s $25,000 Futures event in Buffalo, N.Y., raising the trophy after opponent and fellow American Deiton Baughman retiring trailing 7-6(5), 3-1.

It is the second straight year winning a USTA Pro Circuit for the 21-year-old left-hander who is a rising senior at Texas Christian University. Rybakov last year won the USTA F18 Futures stop.

The No. 5-seeded Coral Springs resident did not face another seeded player en route to the final, in the semis defeating Mexico’s Lucas Gomez 6-3, 6-2. Gomez in the first round toppled top seed Matias Franco Descotte.

Rybakov entered the event at No. 615 on the ATP rankings. For the 2017-18 season at TCU he primarily played No. 1 singles and doubles and was voted a 2018 ITA Doubles All-American, 2018 Big 12 Men’s Tennis Scholar-Athlete of the Year, 2018 ITA Texas Region Player to Watch, 2018 All-Big 12 Singles First Team, 2018 All-Big 12 Doubles First Team, and 2018 Academic All-Big 12 First Team.

Gomez won the doubles title as the No. 2 seed with Colombia’s Alejandro Gomez, in the final upsetting top seeds Descotte and fellow Argentine Eduardo Agustin Torre 6-3, 6-4.

With more than 90 tournaments hosted annually throughout the country and prize money ranging from $15,000-$125,000, the USTA Pro Circuit is the pathway to the US Open and tour-level competition for aspiring tennis players and a frequent battleground for established professionals. Andy Murray, Maria Sharapova, John Isner, Sloane Stephens, Kei Nishikori, Victoria Azarenka, and Sam Querrey and are among today’s top stars who began their careers on the USTA Pro Circuit.

For more info go to www.procircuit.usta.com.