The No. 14 ranked Emory University men's tennis team dropped a pair of matches on Friday as the Eagles opened play at the Battleground Invitational on the campus of the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia.
Emory battled No. 12 Swarthmore to start the day in the opening round prior to facing off against No. 22 ranked Pomona-Pitzer in the back bracket semifinals. The Eagles fell in both matches by a score of 4-1.
During the match against Swarthmore, the Eagles fell in both doubles matches on the top two courts to fall behind 1-0 entering singles play. In singles, Emory dropped straight decisions on courts three and six while senior Dean Kamenev was pushed to a third on court two but fell 1-6, 6-2, 3-6. Sophomore Ajay Kartik recorded the lone win for the Eagles in the contest as he posted a 7-5, 6-2 line on court four.
Both Ruilin Feng and Matthew Johnstone were in the midst of three-set battles on courts one and five when play was halted.
In the afternoon match, Feng & Kartik claimed a win on the top court, 6-3, but the Eagles lost the remaining two matches to lose the doubles point to the Sagehens.
In singles action, PPC secured straight set wins on courts one, two and four while freshman Daniel Kim helped avoid the shutout with his 6-1, 6-3 decision at the No. 3 position.
At the conclusion of the match, Johnstone was entangled in another three-setter on court five with freshman Stefan Karatosic midway through set two at the sixth position.
Emory looks to rebound on Saturday when the team goes up against Gustavus Adolphus at 11:00 AM in the seventh-place match.
