GAMBIER, Ohio – In the first dual matches of the season, the University of Chicago men's tennis team edged Denison University 5-4 on Saturday before losing 8-1 at No. 5-ranked Kenyon College on Sunday.

The No. 30-ranked Maroons ran their record to 1-1.

UChicago played a tight match with Denison that came down to the wire. The Maroons earned wins at No. 1 and No. 3 doubles to take the early lead 2-1. The two teams then evenly split the six singles matches to give UChicago the victory. The No. 1 and No. 2 singles matches both went to three sets, with freshman Sven Kranz winning at No. 2 by scores of 6-4, 5-7, 6-4. Freshman Brian Sun, junior Ankur Bhargava and Kranz earned victories in both singles and doubles play.

On Sunday, the Maroons ran into Kenyon and played three close doubles matches. However, the Lords came through with all three wins 9-7, 8-6 and 9-8. Kenyon went on to win five of six singles, with Kranz getting the lone win at No. 2 over Sam Geier 6-2, 5-7, 6-4.

"It was a great college tennis match today," said Head Coach Jay Tee on Sunday. "We lost to a better team today but we competed hard throughout the lineup. We had our chances in doubles but weren't able to convert. Sven played a very solid match and was able to take down the No. 4-ranked player in the country."

UChicago 5, Denison 4
Singles
1. Juan Guerra (DEN) def. Deepak Sabada (UC) 6-4, 5-7, 6-3
2. Sven Kranz (UC) def. Grant Veltman (DEN) 6-4, 5-7, 6-4
3. Brian Sun (UC) def. Andrew Marczak (DEN) 6-4, 7-6
4. Ankur Bhargava (UC) def. Casey Cempre (DEN) 6-4, 7-6
5. Graham Gettel (DEN) def. Gordon Zhang (UC) 6-4, 6-4
6. Jackson O'Gorman Bean (DEN) def. Zsolt Szabo (UC) 6-2, 6-3
Doubles
1. Sven Kranz/Deepak Sabada (UC) def. Juan Guerra/Grant Veltman (DEN) 8-4
2. Andrew Marczak/Casey Cempre (DEN) def. Max Hawkins/Zsolt Szabo (UC) 8-4
3. Ankur Bhargava/Brian Sun (UC) def. Jeffrey LoDuca/Shankar Rajupet (DEN) 8-3

Kenyon 8, UChicago 1
Singles
1. Wade Heerboth (KEN) def. Deepak Sabada (UC) 6-1, 6-2
2. Sven Kranz (UC) def. Sam Geier (KEN) 6-2, 5-7, 6-4
3. Tim Rosensteel (KEN) def. Brian Sun (UC) 6-2, 7-5
4. Colin Haas (KEN) def. Ankur Bhargava (UC) 6-4, 6-3
5. Jacob Huber (KEN) def. Max Hawkins (UC) 6-3, 6-1
6. Davis Thrailkill (KEN) def. Peter Muncey (UC) 6-0, 6-3
Doubles
1. Sam Geier/Tim Rosensteel (KEN) def. Deepak Sabada/Sven Kranz (UC) 9-7
2. Jacob Huber/Michael Roberts (KEN) def. Brian Sun/Ankur Bhargava (UC) 8-6
3. Wade Heerboth/Colin Haas (KEN) def. Max Hawkins/Gordon Zhang (UC) 9-8

NEXT MATCH:

• Saturday, Feb. 15 – UChicago at Augustana College, 3 PM