The Emory men's tennis team began competition at the Division III ITA South Regionals on Saturday afternoon, sending 12 competitors to the event. After the first of three days of the event, four of the five doubles tandems in the main draw advanced to the quarterfinals. Meanwhile, all 12 Eagles competed in the main singles draw, with 10 making it past the first round.
Berry College is hosting the ITA Regional at the Rome Tennis Center in Mount Berry, Georgia.
The event started with the opening rounds of doubles play, with all five teams in the main draw advancing to the second round. Junior Dean Kamenev, last year's ITA South Doubles Champion, played his first matches alongside graduate transfer Efe Comu. The duo handled business winning their first two matches, 8-0 and 8-4.
A pair of underclassmen in sophomore Christian Liew and freshman Ruilin Feng were impressive as well, winning both matches by a score of 8-4. Freshman Joshua Lai also saw his first action alongside junior Alex Marino. The two won their first match 8-5 before battling to a 9-7 win in their second-round matchup.
Emory got its first look at graduate transfer Charley Force and freshman Ajay Kartik, advancing in the first round after their opponent withdrew due to injury before winning their second-round match, 8-6.
Freshman Alec Anghel and junior John Lasanajak also competed in the main draw, winning their opening match 8-4 before falling in the second-round, 2-8.
The Eagles make up half of the remaining doubles tandems in the main draw heading into the second day.
Sophomore Ryan Nash and senior Emilio Van Cotthem competed in the Purple draw of the event, winning both matches (8-2 and 9(8)-8(6)) to advance to the semifinals in that portion of the event.
The Eagles got things started in the singles portion of the event, with all 12 competitors seeing action in the main draw. Comu was awarded the top-seed and handled business, taking down Berry college's Drayton Matus in straight sets (6-0, 6-1).
Kamenev, the draw's No. 3 seeded player and last year's regional singles runner-up, made quick work of Sewanee's Charles Pizzuti, winning 6-1 and 6-2 in straight sets.
Liew earned the four-seed and advanced to the round of 32 with a straight set win over Sewanee's Drew Rukavina (6-3, 6-3).
The rookie, Kartik, was impressive in his first collegiate singles action, winning his opening match in straight sets both ending in a score of 6-3. Another freshman, Lai, battled back to win his opening match in three sets as well (2-6, 6-2, 7-5).
Force played in a thriller, dropping his opening set to NC Wesleyan's Albert Sitwell 7(7)-6(4) before battling back to win the second set 6-4. The graduate transfer went on to win the tiebreaker, 10-7, to advance to the second round.
Anghel advanced to the second-round after his opponent withdrew due to injury.
Nash won his opening round match against Millsaps' Anderson Dulaney in straight sets, 6-1 and 6-0, advancing to the round of 32. Lasanajak also advanced to the Round of 32, taking down Rhodes' Topher Thornberry (6(5)-7(7), 6-1, 10-1).
Marino dropped his opening match to North Carolina Wesleyan's Luca Knese in straight sets, 3-6 and 5-7. Van Cotthem suffered a similar fate, falling to eighth-seeded Quinn Wicklund of Sewanee in straight sets, 6-2 and 7(7)-6(3).
The Eagles will be back in action on Sunday morning, with doubles play scheduled to begin at 9:30 AM and singles to follow.
