The Case Western Reserve University men's tennis team competed in its first dual matches of the season on Saturday afternoon in Oberlin, Ohio, defeating the NCAA Division II University of Findlay and Oberlin College, each by a 9-0 score.
With the two wins, the Spartans will carry a 2-0 record into the spring season. Both matches on Saturday were played simultaneously, with CWRU splitting its squad between the two contests.
CWRU's doubles pairings were dominant in their match against Findlay, with all three pairings claiming wins. The duo of sophomore Daniel French and graduate student Anthony Kanam gave the Spartans' their first point of the day with a 8-4 win over Findlay's Mark Ivanov and Brayden Doherty at third doubles, while sophomore Vishwa Aduru and graduate student Jonathan Powell bested Andrew Codita and Octavio Carrasco 8-4 at second doubles. Juniors James Hopper and Chris Provenzano put the Spartans ahead 3-0 with an 8-6 win at first doubles over Wilfredo Lara and Luigi Bove.
Provenzano put CWRU a point away from clinching with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Doherty in the sixth singles match, and French picked up the clinch for the Spartans with a 6-0, 6-4 win over Carrasco at fourth singles. Also picking up wins for CWRU in singles play against Findlay were junior Diego Maza, 6-3, 6-3 over Codita at no. 3 singles, Aduru, 6-3, 6-3 over Bove at no. 1 singles, Powell, 6-3, 7-5 over Lara at no. 2 singles, and Kanam, 7-5, 6-7, 13-11 over Ivanov at no. 5 singles.
Against Oberlin, the Spartans' no. 3 doubles pairing of first-years Pranav Ikkurthy and Ajay Mahenthiran topped Sebastien Naginski and Grant North 8-4. First-year Ben Martin and junior Michael Sutanto followed with an 8-5 win over Sam Topper and Rohan Gold in the no. 2 doubles match, and at no. 1 doubles, sophomores Yuvraj Narang and Sahil Dayal edged out Sean Billerbeck and James Dill 8-7.
In singles play, Martin bested North 6-1, 6-1 in the sixth singles match to put CWRU ahead 4-0, and Mahenthiran clinched the match for CWRU with a flawless 6-0, 6-0 win over Gold at no. 4 singles.
Adding to the Spartans' margin of victory were senior Max Vicario with a 6-2, 6-0 win at fifth singles over Naginski, Narang with a 6-0, 6-3 win over Dill at second singles, first-year Casey Hishinuma with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Topper at third singles and Sutanto with a 7-6, 6-1 win over Billerbeck at first singles.
While Saturday's matches marked the end of fall competition for the majority of the CWRU men's tennis team, three Spartans will be headed to Rome, Georgia for the ITA Cup next week. Hopper and first-year Ansh Shah will be competing in the singles draw, and Hopper will team with Powell in the doubles competition at the event. The ITA Cup will begin on Thursday, October 14 and continue through Saturday, October 16. More information on the event will be posted to athletics.case.edu later in the week.
