Nevolo relaxed before his upset

A five-hour rain delay didn't bother Dennis Nevolo on Friday.

The American upset fourth-seeded Philip Bester 6-0, 6-1 in a quarterfinal match of the Baptist Health Bolo Bash tennis tournament at Rebsamen Tennis Center in Little Rock.

Nevolo, 26, and Bester, 27, were scheduled to play at 10 a.m. Friday. But rain forced the tournament, which featured three singles matches and two doubles matches Friday, to be pushed back to 3 p.m.

Nevolo, a former All-American at the University of Illinois, said he tried to stay relaxed during the delay, even taking in a trip to Barnes & Noble before arriving back at Rebsamen Tennis Center.

"You try to get your mind off things," Nevolo said. "Once we get on [the] court, we have to expend a lot of mental energy."

When play began Friday, Nevolo didn't have to exert himself too much, taking care of Bester, a Canadian, in 1 hour, 1 minute.

Nevolo won 24 of the first set's 32 points, including an ace, to win 6-0. The Illinois native led the second set 1-0 and had a 40-30 advantage in the second game when rain fell again, forcing a 16-minute delay.

Once play resumed, Nevolo won the second game. Bester won his only game to pull within 2-1 in the second set, but Nevolo won the final four points of the set to move on to the semifinals.

The key for Nevolo, he said, was neutralizing Bester's serve.

"I had to do a better job of court position and play up in the court," Nevolo said. "I had to make sure he wasn't playing too much offense. He's very good when he's playing offense. I tried to be aggressive today. It all came together."

Nevolo, who is ranked 567th in the current ATP rankings, did not earn a seed in the Bolo Bash. However, Nevolo did not have to play in the qualifying round earlier this week since he reached the semifinals in Memphis last week, earning a special exemption. He's reached the semifinals on the USTA Futures Tour for the fourth time in his past four tournaments, also reaching the final four in Bakersfield, Calif., and Calabasas, Calif., in March.

The recent success Nevolo said is a credit to his new coach Murphy Payne, who replaced Mark Bey. Payne was not at Nevolo's match Friday as he was flying to Nigeria with another player he coaches.

"We regrouped," Nevolo said. "We changed equipment. We changed the whole ballgame. I feel like I'm playing well."

After exhausting his eligibility at Illinois in 2012, Nevolo joined the USTA Pro Circuit. He won two singles titles on the Futures Tour in September 2014 at Claremont, Calif., and Irvine, Calif.

The Irvine victory, though, came at a price, as he injured his left thumb in the championship match. He played one more tournament in Houston in October before undergoing surgery. The surgery forced Nevolo to miss the next nine months, which included the Bolo Bash when it was at Pleasant Valley Country Club in Little Rock. During his time away from the court, Nevolo went back to Illinois and earned his bachelor's degree in sports management.

Now Nevolo is back on the circuit and his thumb is 100 percent.

"It's back to normal," Nevolo said. "It's good."

In today's semifinals, Nevolo faces fellow American Eric Quigley, the tournament's fifth seed, who took down top-seeded Christian Lindell of Sweden 6-3, 6-3 on Friday.

"He's been incredibly difficult for me to play against," Nevolo said. "But I like how I'm playing right now. I hope to keep doing what I'm doing."

In another singles match Friday, third-seeded Stefan Kozlov defeated No. 8 seed Evan King 7-5, 6-4.

Sports on 04/16/2016