ST. PETER, Minn – The No. 9 University of Chicago men's tennis team kicked off the opening round of the 2018 Intercollegiate Tennis Association National Division III Men's Team Indoor Championships with a close 6-3 win over No. 10 Carnegie Mellon Friday.
The Maroons advance in the winners' bracket to Saturday's semifinals, where UChicago will face off with the winner of No. 1 Emory and No. 8 Gustavus Adolphus in a noon contest at the Swanson Tennis Center in St. Peter, Minn.
"We always seem to get Carnegie's best and today was no different," Head Coach Jay Tee said. "It was a really good battle that we were able to pull out at the end. We didn't play our best match as a team, but we did just enough and found a way to win."
At singles, UChicago was victorious at the No. 2, 4, 5, and 6 spots, with first-years Jeremy Yuan and Alejandro Rodriguez coming up with gritty three-set wins at the No. 4 and 5 slots.
Senior Luke Tsai – who has won 14 straight matches – also won in straight sets at No. 2, as did junior Charlie Pei at No. 6 singles.
Senior Nicolas Chua and sophomore Ninan Kumar teamed up for an 8-5 win at No. 1 doubles and the top-seeded UChicago duo of Tyler Raclin and Jeremy Yuan also win at No. 2 doubles, 8-6.
"We will need even more from everyone in our next matches, but I'm confident the guys will show up ready to compete at an even higher level," added Tee.
UChicago improved to 8-0 in dual matches with the win, while the Tartans fell to 5-2.
NEXT MATCH:
- Saturday, Feb. 23: UChicago vs. Emory/Gustavus Adolphus winner, 12 p.m. CT (ITA Indoor Semifinals at St. Peter, Minn,)
#9 UChicago 6, #10 Carnegie Mellon 3 (ITA Indoor Opening Round)
Singles
1. Daniel Levine (CMU) def. Nicolas Chua, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3
2. Luke Tsai (UC) def. Chaz Downing, 7-5, 6-0
3. Ray Boppana (CMU) def. Erik Kerrigan, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3)
4. Jeremy Yuan (UC) def. Kailas Shekar, 7-6 (7-3), 1-6, 7-5
5. Alejandro Rodriguez (UC) def. Robert Levin, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4
6. Charlie Pei (UC) def. Joshua Pinckney, 6-3, 6-2
Doubles
1. Nicolas Chua/Ninan Kumar (UC) def. Daniel Levine/Kailas Shekar, 8-5
2. Tyler Raclin/Jeremy Yuan (UC) def. Jeffrey Chen/Robert Levin, 8-6
3. Nicolas Calzolano/Chaz Downing (CMU) def. Abhin Sharma/Erik Kerrigan, 8-5
