WINNING FORM—Jean-Yves Aubone returns a shot by Artem Sitak in his 6-4, 6-2 victory in the finals of the Tangipahoa Men’s $15,000 Pro Circuit Classic Sunday morning. By Mike Kiral

Jean-Yves Aubone has exams coming up at Florida State University.

But Aubone passed a major test in his tennis career this past weekend, defeating third-seeded Artem Sitak, 6-4, 6-0, Sunday morning to capture the singles title at the Tangipahoa Men's $15,000 Pro Circuit Classic at the SLU courts.

“I'm coming from school and studying every day after the matches because I have exams so it was a big commitment to come here, especially since I missed a whole week of school prior to this because of a college tournament,” Aubone said. “I knew it was going to be tough for me to come out here. But these guys are great players so anytime I have the opprtunity to step out here with these guys, I want to take it.”

Aubone, the No. 1 player on the FSU team, defeated four of the top eight seeds - No. 8 Travis Helgeson, No. 1 Nicholas Monroe, No. 4 Uladzimir Ignatik and Sitak - on his way to the title.

“These guys were great players I played and I'm just humbled by the fact that I was able to beat them,” Aubone said.

Sitak, battling a twisted ankle suffered Saturday, broke Aubone's opening serve, then served consecutive aces to win the second game of the first set. Aubone held serve, then out-lasted Sitak in a fourth game that lasted 22 points. Aubone survived three game points before getting the winner on a shot into the right corner.

“That was a tough game and it was on his serve,” Aubone said. “If he would have had that game, maybe the match changes. He's a little more positive and keeps taking it to me. But that's what happened to me. I started feeling better out there, like I could win the match, and it just gave me a lot of confidence going into the rest of the match.”

Both Aubone and Sitak held their next two serves. Aubone took a 5-4 lead on his ensuing serve when Sitak returned long, then went up 40-15 with Sitak serving. Sitak battled back to deuce but Aubone got the set winner when Sitak returned wide.

Aubone won his first serve of the second set with an ace, then broke Sitak's serve after charging the net and flipping a shot to the right side. After going up 4-0 with another service break, Aubone rallied from a 40-15 deficit to hold serve and take a 5-0 lead. Sitak held off one match point in the next game but Aubone got the winner when Sitak returned long.

“This was probably the most consistent tennis I've played all week,” Aubone said of the match. “I'm just glad it came on the most important day.”

Aubone, the 672nd ranked player going into the USTA Pro Curcuit event, received 18 world ranking points for the victory. Sitak, who went in ranked 354nd, received 12 points.

“It's just nice seeing the numbers climb up but i just think the most important thing I'm seeing through these tournaments is mentally I'm getting better and stronger and so is my game,” Aubone said.