The Case Western Reserve University men's tennis team continued its run at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Central Regional Championships in Kalamazoo, Michigan on Saturday, with Spartans among the four remaining singles players in the tournament, and a doubles pairing that will play for the title on Sunday.
The Spartans' doubles team of junior James Hopper and graduate student Jonathan Powell, seeded first in the draw, won two more matches on Saturday to qualify for Sunday's championship match. The duo bested fifth-seeded Sachin Das and Arjun Asokumar of Chicago 8-5 in the quarterfinals, and then topped fifth-seeded Tim Cianciola and Andy Macker of Denison 8-6 to reach the finals.
By virtue of reaching the finals, Hopper and Powell punched their ticket to Rome, Georgia for the ITA Cup later in October. The two will face second-seeded Daniel Li and Abhi Ramireddy of Washington University (Mo.) in the championship match on Sunday at 9:00 a.m., as they look to become the second pairing in program history to win the event.
Also in doubles play on Saturday, sophomore Vishwa Aduru and first-year Ansh Shah, seeded fifth, fell 8-3 to Li and Ramireddy in the quarterfinals of the draw.
In singles play, Hopper, the top overall seed, picked up a win over Lake Forest College's Oleksyi Vyshvanyuk, seeded ninth, 6-1, 6-2 in the round of 16. He then claimed a 6-1, 6-1 win over unseeded Rishil Kondapaneni of Kenyon in the quarterfinals.
Aduru, seeded ninth, secured a 6-0, 6-4 win against third-seeded Luis Andres Platas of Kenyon in the round of 16, followed by a win by retirement in three sets against fifth-seeded Ramireddy, 3-6, 6-4, 4-0.
On the other side of the draw, Shah, seeded fifth, claimed a pair of wins over ninth-ranked opponents, besting Asokumar 6-3, 6-0 in the round of 16 and Guarav Singh of Washington (Mo.) 2-6, 6-3 6-0.
Hopper and Aduru will face off against each other in the first semifinal match on Sunday at 10:00 a.m., while Shah will face second-seeded Cianciola in the other semifinal match, also at 10:00 a.m. The championship match will follow at 1:00 p.m.
In the singles consolation draw, Powell won both of his matches on Saturday, beating Leonardo Panosso of Augustana, 6-2, 6-0, and ninth-seeded Jacob Burkett of Hope, 6-4, 6-2.
Full results and a recap of the Spartans' performances on Saturday will be posted to athletics.case.edu following the completion of competition.
