Case Western Reserve University junior James Hopper won a pair of three-set matches to reach the quarterfinals of the singles draw, and later teamed with graduate student Jonathan Powell to win the duo's first doubles match of the tournament, during the opening day of play at the 2022 NCAA Division III Individual Championships in Orlando, Florida on Friday.
Hopper, the third-seeded player in the singles draw, defeated Emory's Antonio Mora 5-7, 6-1, 6-2 in the round of 32, and followed that with a 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-3 win against Tristan Bradley of Bowdoin in the round of 16. Hopper improved to 19-8 this year with the win, including a 12-2 mark in tournament matches.
Next up for Hopper will be a quarterfinal matchup against unseeded Mason Tran of Pacific at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday. Should he win, he will face the winner of the match between sixth-seeded Jhonny Acosta of NC Wesleyan and second-seeded Stan Morris of Middlebury in the semifinals at 2:00 p.m. The championship match is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. on Sunday.
Despite the two long singles matches, Hopper still had enough in the tank to team with Powell for a straight-set win over Alex Gray and John Zakowski of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Hopper and Powell, who are seeded second overall in the draw, earned a 6-3, 6-3 win, avenging a defeat to the Warhawks duo during the round of 16 of the NCAA Team Championships.
With the win, Hopper improved to 34-6 in doubles matches this season, breaking the program record for doubles wins in a season, previously set by both Louis Stuerke and CJ Krimbill during the 2015-16 campaign. Meanwhile, it was the 103rd doubles win of Powell's career, moving him into sole possession of second place in program history.
Hopper and Powell will next face Chase Cohen and Matt Kandel of Williams in the quarterfinals on Saturday, with the match slated for a start time no earlier than 3:00 p.m. Hopper and Powell earned an 8-3 win over Cohen and Kandel in the NCAA Team Championship quarterfinals on Monday. The doubles semifinals and championship match will both be played on Sunday.
Also in action in the singles draw on Friday were sophomore Vishwa Aduru and first-year Ansh Shah, who both suffered losses in their first-round matches. Aduru lost in straight sets to Acosta, 6-2, 6-3, while Shah suffered a three-set setback to Hunter Bajoit of Southwestern, 6-7 (2), 6-4, 6-3.
Links to full coverage of Saturday's matches will be available on the official tournament website at https://www.ustanationalcampus.com/en/home/collegiate/ncaa-championships.html. Full results and a recap will be posted to athletics.case.edu following the completion of competition on Saturday.
