University of Chicago def. Kenyon College (5-4)
The morning began as the three-seed and 4th ranked University of Chicago faced off against the six-seed and 11th ranked Kenyon College. The Lords were trailing by one at the doubles point with the Maroons taking two of the three flights.
The combo of Tyler Raclin and Julius Kim took down an 8-4 win, while Erik Kerrigan and Jeremy Yuan were also impressive, winning 8-3. Kenyon got on the board with a narrow tie break win at No. 2. In singles play, the Maroons put themselves on the edge of victory with straight-set wins at No. 5 and No. 6. Junior Alejandro Rodriguez only dropped a single game (6-1, 6-0) and Alex Guzhva also won (6-3, 6-1).
Chicago clinched at No. 4 when Jeremy Yuan captured his third-set tiebreaker and the deciding fifth team point (6-1, 2-6, 7-6). The Maroons will head to the semi-final tomorrow at 8:30am CST to challenge Claremont-Mudd-Scripps for a spot in the Championship match.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps def. Case Western Reserve University, 6-3
The 2019 NCAA runner ups, CMS, handed CWRU their first loss of the season with a final of 6-3. The Spartans’ lone point in doubles came from Neil Mabee and Anthony Kanam in the third match, as the duo bested Jake Berber and Daniel Park 8-5. However, the victory came after a pair of losses in the top-two matches, as James Hopper and Matthew Chen suffered their first doubles loss to Ian Freer and Nikolai Parodi 8-6 at No. 1 doubles, and Jonathan Powell and Zach Hennessey dropped an 8-6 match to Jack Katzman and Robert Liu, the 23rd-ranked pairing in Division III, at No. 2 doubles.
Trailing 2-1 heading into singles play, the Stags extended their lead as Katzman bested 22nd-ranked Chan in the No. 2 match, 6-0, 6-0. Wins at No. 4 singles from Freer over Kanam, 6-3, 6-2, and at No. 6 singles from Park over Max Vicario, 6-2, 6-4, clinched the victory for Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.
Despite the clinch, CWRU continued to put up a fight. At third singles, Aaron Umen topped Nic Meister (ranked 42nd in Division III) in three sets, 6-7, 7-3, 10-6. Sophomore Chaitanya Aduru followed at fifth singles with a 6-2, 7-6 victory for the Spartans over Liu. At No. 1 singles, Hopper came close to taking down Parodi, ranked third in Division III, but ultimately fell in a heart-breaking match, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6.
The Stags will head to the semi-final tomorrow at 8:30am CST to take on the University of Chicago for a spot in the Championship match.
Brandeis University def. Washington University in St. Louis, 7-2
The fourth-seeded and eighth-ranked Brandeis University swept fifth-seeded and ninth-ranked Washington University, 7-2. The Judges opened the match with a key doubles sweep. Jeffrey Chen and Adam Tzeng rolled to the first point with an 8-0 victory at No. 2. Rajan Vohra and sophomore Colt Tegtmeier used a couple of late breaks of serve to take an 8-4 win at No. 3. Brandeis completed the sweep with a dramatic comeback at No. 1 doubles. David Aizenberg and Anupreeth Corautla trailed, 7-5, when WashU’s Benjamin vanders Sman suffered an injury. Bernardo Neves carried on the match, but the Judges were able to take advantage and complete the sweep with an 8-7 (7-4) win.
In singles action, the Judges moved within one point of clinching with a near-sweep at No. 6 thanks to Nikhil Das, 6-0, 6-1. WashU got on the board at No. 1, where Ethan Hillis defeated Aizenberg, 6-1, 6-2, and Koki Takabataki knocked off Vohra, 6-4, 6-2, at #5 to get the Bears within 4-2.
The Judges clinched the match at No. 4, where Chen used a late break in each set to defeat J.J. Kroot, 6-4, 6-4. The Judges completed the victory with a pair of come-from-behind wins.
Tzeng defeated Daniel Li, 3-6, 6-3, 6-0 at No. 3, and Coramutla topped Neves, 2-6, 6-2, 6-4, at No. 2 to seal the victory.
The Judges will head to the semi-final tomorrow at 12pm CST to take on Emory University for a spot in the Championship match.
Emory University def. Gustavus Adolphus College, 7-2
The top dog in the country, Emory University, claimed their stake after defeating Gustavus, 7-2. Emory is undefeated on the season and will look to take down Brandeis University tomorrow in the semi-final match.
Doubles was a hard-fought battle with Emory coming out on top, 2-1. The No. 1 combo of Hayden Cassone and Antonio Mora toppled Gustavus’ Yassine Derbani and Nick Aney (8-4). Only one of two losses for Emory came at doubles after Michael O’Neil and Daniel Foucher defeated Will Wanner and Mark Sverdlov (8-3). The second loss came at singles as Oscar Wikstrom took down Hassan Kenawi (1-6, 6-4, 7-5).
In singles, Hayden Cassone blew through Yassine Derbani in straight sets (6-3, 7-6). Mark Sverdlov clinched the match after defeating Michael O’Neil in straight sets (6-2, 6-4).
The Emory Eagles will take on the Brandeis Judges in the semi-final match tomorrow at 12pm CST.
Consolation matches will begin tomorrow afternoon as Kenyon College will take on Case Western Reserve at 3:30pm CST and Washington University in St. Louis will take on Gustavus Adolphus College at 7pm.
Live match scores and online streaming for the ITA Division III National Men’s Team Indoor Championship is available courtesy of Gustavus Adolphus College.
