For the first time in program history, the Case Western Reserve University men's tennis team is ITA Team Indoor Champions after winning the 2022 ITA Division III Men's National Team Indoor Championship with a 5-1 victory over the University of Chicago on Sunday at the Mayfield Village Racquet Club in Mayfield, Ohio.
The Spartans, the top seed in the draw, will likely be ranked first in the initial spring ITA team rankings. CWRU improved to 7-1 this season and won its 26th consecutive regular season match against a Division III opponent. The Maroons, seeded sixth, fall to 7-1.
Case Western Reserve swept the doubles matches to open a commanding 3-0 lead. Senior Chaitanya Aduru and junior Michael Sutanto started the match with a victory at third doubles, besting Pat Otero and Bailey Forgus 8-2. Junior James Hopper and graduate student Jonathan Powell, the No. 6 doubles team in the country, bested Derek Hsieh and Christian Alshon, the No. 25 doubles team in the country, at first doubles 8-7 (6-4). At second doubles, sophomores Vishwa Aduru and Sahil Dayal completed the sweep with an 8-4 win over Arjun Asokumar and Andrei Leonov.
First-year Ansh Shah, the 10th-ranked singles player in Division III, put the Spartans one win away from the title with a 6-1, 6-3 win at third singles over 42nd-ranked Hsieh. Powell clinched the championship with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Marek Michulka at sixth singles.
At second singles, Vishwa Aduru, the No. 32 singles player in the country, fell to Alshon 0-6, 1-6.
The remaining three singles matches were left unfinished. At the end of the match Hopper, the sixth-ranked national singles player, was leading Asokumar at first singles 6-4, 1-0, and Chaitanya Aduru was ahead of Shramay Dhawan 6-1, 5-3 at fifth singles. Sutanto was behind Alex Guzhva at fourth singles 4-6, 5-2.
The Spartans advanced to the final with an 8-1 win over fourth-seeded Trinity in the semifinals on Saturday and an 8-1 win over eighth-seeded Gustavus Adolphus on Friday.
Following their tournament victory, the Spartans will embark on their Spring Break trip to Orlando, Florida at the beginning of March. On Tuesday, March 8, CWRU starts the trip with matches against Wesleyan (Conn.) and Hampden-Sydney.
