SMUs Peter Oredsson defeated Rual Morant-Rivas of Texas A&M (6-4, 6-7, 6-4 [3]) to win the Wilson/ITA South Central Regional Championship held at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center in College Station.

“I certainly didn’t expect to win because the competition was really tough but I went out and played each match one at a time,” said Oredsson.

Oredsson, a senior from Sweden, is the first tennis player to win the ITA regional tournament in over 15 years. He entered the tournament unranked and defeated five nationally ranked players to clutch the singles title.

“Peter won the tournament because of two reasons. One our conditioning program is working and Peter is in the best shape of his life. Two he’s mentally tough and it showed,” said head tennis coach Carl Neufeld.

Oredsson had a bye in the opening round of the 128-player tournament and faced Robin Fernandez of UTSA in the round of 64. He defeated Fernandez in straight sets (6-1,6-1) and advanced to the round of 32 where he faced 16th-seed Michael Venus of Texas. Once again he defeated Venus in straight sets (6-4, 6-2) and advanced to the round of 16 where he would face No. 3 seed Robert Searle of Rice. Oredsson won again (4-6, 6-1, 7-6 [4]) and advanced to the quarterfinals.

In the quarterfinals, Oredsson faced the 11th-seed Sandy Farquharson from UTA. Oredsson dominated the first set 6-1 but dropped the second set 6-7 (6). He won the third set 6-2 to advance to the semifinal round where he would take on Michal Kotka from Baylor. Kotka proved to be Oredsson’s toughest component of the tournament but he came out on top (6-4, 6-7 [3], 7-6 [2]).

“Peter played six matches in four days and played over five hours and 30 minutes of tennis on Saturday,” said Neufeld.

Oredsson’s victory over Kotka advanced him to finals where he again defeated Morant-Rivas (6-4, 6-7, 6-4) for the singles title.

Oredsson will advance to the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships hosted by The Ohio State University at the Racquet Club of Columbus Nov. 3-6.

Oredsson said he looks forward the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships because all the best players in the nation will be there.

“Peter has a another great opportunity ahead of him in Ohio and his rankings are going to go through the roof. He’s definitely going to be in the top 50 if not higher,” said Neufeld.