BRUNSWICK, ME (September 29, 2023) -- Four of the five Tufts University men's tennis doubles' pairs moved into the Round of 16 Friday, while two singles' players also stayed alive in the championship draw at the 2023 Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) New England Regional, hosted by Bowdoin College.
The Jumbos started the day with a bang in doubles as four of the five entered pairings moved into the Round of 16 Saturday morning. Top-seed
Derin Acaroglu and
Andrej Djokic used a bye into the second round, and then dispatched of Sujit Chepuri and Spencer Leung of Amherst College 8-7 (4) to stay alive. Acaroglu and Djokic will play Neel Epstein and Noah Lewis of Middlebury in the Round of 16.
Unseeded
Sacha Maes and
Aarush Ganji bested Wheaton College's Jaime Galligo Subriana and Jake Murray 8-2 in the opening round, and then topped seeded Shawn Berdia and Leon Liu of Williams College 8-1 in dominating fashion to continue their trek through the draw. Seeded Lachie MacIntosh and
Alex Ganchev drew a bye in the first round, but cruised to an 8-1 win over Pierce Garbett and Alex Merson of Brandeis College.
The final grouping to continue on for the Jumbos was on the bottom of the bracket, as
Mauricio Gutierrez and
Javier Gonzalez defeated Luca Garbati and Jack Ginter 8-7 (1) to move into the Round of 16. Gonzalez and Gutierrez will take on third-seed Ethan Bradley and Reid Staples of Bowdoin on Saturday.
The other pairings for the Jumbos doubles' squads are Ganchev and MacIntosh against No. 5 seed Myles Decoste and Charles Norman of Coast Guard, while Maes and Ganji will take on Kailas Kahler and Daniel Papcica of MIT.
In singles' play, Gonzalez was a double winner as he also advanced to the Third Round with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Paul Berteaux of Wheaton, following that up with a 7-6, 7-5 win over Chepuri in the Round of 32.
MacIntosh also moved ahead from his unseeded spot to be only one of five unseeded players to advance to Saturday in the championship singles' bracket. MacIntosh defeated Simon Volkema of Williams College 2-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2 in the first round, and then knocked off Epstein 5-7, 6-1, 6-4 in the Round of 32..
Djokic was a first-round winner in singles with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Sean Dreher of Coast Guard, but fell 7-5, 7-5 to Brandeis's Dylan Walters.
In the "B" singles draw,
Corey Marley advanced to the Round of 16 as he defeated Leung of Amherst 8-6. He will take on Babson College's Jose Gonzalez Saturday in the Round of 16. Maes will join Marley in Saturday's "B" draw, as he knocked off Mattias Harrell of Babson 8-3. He will play Garbett of Brandeis on Saturday for a spot in the quarterfinals.
Takehiro Shuda won his first round match-up in the "B" draw 8-6, but fell to Nikky Kondamuri of Middlebury 8-5. Gutierrez was also a first-round winner with an 8-7(6) win against Luca Garbati of Trinity College, but he eventually fell to Thehan Wijemanne of Middlebury 8-3. Senior
Oliver Obeid added a win for the Jumbos in the first round 8-6, but Brandon Felcher of Trinity tripped Obeid 8-5 in the Round of 32.
Play will continue again at 9 a.m. on Saturday morning at Bowdoin College.
--JUMBOS--
