HEIST, Belgium - - Rising senior Cedric De Zutter picked up his first career Futures doubles title with a win at the Belgium F6/The Rising Stars Tennis Tour Duinbergen event, Friday. De Zutter teamed with East Carolina senior Joran Vliegen, who is also from Belgium, and the duo went 4-0 through the draw to grab the tournament win. They defeated the team of Bobbie De Goeijen and Scott Griekspoor, 7-5, 6-2, on Friday for the title.
It is the first career doubles title for De Zutter and will add to his ATP doubles points total when this week's points are added to the calendar in two weeks. De Zutter already carried six doubles points with him into this week's tournament after advancing to the semifinals of the Belgium F4 event earlier this month in Knokke. He was teamed with Joseph Van Dooren of Auburn University in that F4 event.
In this week's event in Heist, the duo did not drop a set en route the tournament title, winning 6-2, 6-2 in the first round, 6-3, 6-3 in the quarterfinals and upending the team of Maxime Braeckman and Sander Gille, who won that same F4 event that De Zutter appeared in the semifinals in, 7-5, 6-4, in the semifinals.
De Zutter was a second team, all-conference doubles honoree this past year for the Tigers, helping Memphis finish the season as the No. 20 ranked team in the country. De Zutter teamed for a majority of the spring with sophomore Connor Glennon, playing at both No. 1 and 2 doubles for Memphis throughout the spring. De Zutter teamed with David O'Leary to play No. 3 doubles in the NCAA tournament after Glennon broke his wrist following the C-USA Championships. De Zutter and O'Leary clinched the doubles point victory for Memphis in the NCAA Round of 16 against Pepperdine with an 8-5 win at No. 3 doubles.
De Zutter is one of four seniors who return to Memphis this fall to lead the Tigers into the American Athletic Conference. The Tigers are coming off a C-USA Championship and a 16-7 regular season record.
The Tigers will open their fall schedule at the University of Virginia Ranked +1 Championships for a second straight year on Sept. 20th-23rd. Virginia is the defending NCAA team champions, and hosts the three-day event each fall. The Tigers will host the inaugural American Athletic Conference championships in Memphis, Apr. 17-20, 2014, at MUS.
