FREDERICKSBURG, Va. – The Haverford College men's tennis team opened play at the USTA/ITA Southeast Regional Championships on Saturday. The Fords' day one successes were highlighted by a pair of singles players and two doubles teams making it to the Round of 32 in their respective championship draws.
In singles play, both Luis Acaba and Dais Nakayama opened up their singles draws with straight set victories on Saturday morning. Acaba, a No. 9 seed in the championship singles draw, was a quick 6-1, 6-0 winner against Randolph's JT von Seggern to start the tournament. However, Acaba saw his championship run come to a close on Saturday evening with a tough second set tiebreak defeat at the hands of Carnegie Mellon's Kiril Kirkov.
Nakayama moved into the Round of 32 with a straight set victory over Washington & Lee's Joseph Siami. The Fords' sophomore used a pair of 6-2 set victories to advance. He was denied a trip to the Round of 16 by Brandon Griffin of host Mary Washington.
In championship doubles action, Eli Phelps and Ishaan Prinz began their tournament together with a tiebreak victory over Moravian's Matthew Tuorto and John Wylie. Splitting the first 12 games, the Fords' duo advanced after allowing just two points in the tiebreak victory. However, the tiebreak would prove to be less kind in the Round of 32 against Carnegie Mellon's Abhishek Alla and Kirkov. Josh Moskovitz and Nakayama moved into the Round of 32 in doubles after a first round bye before being edged out by Eric Hurwitz and Nolan Perugini of Mary Washington in the second round of the tournament.
The Fords will resume championship draw action with consolation matches on Sunday. Moskovitz, who dropped a hard-fought 6-4, 7-5 match to start his singles draw, will look to bounce back against Washington & Lee's William Bannister. The pairing of Harrison Elbert and Nick Sweeney was edged out by an 8-5 score in their Round of 64 doubles match. They will begin consolation action against Washington College's Christopher Salisbury and Jake Sandler.
Also beginning play tomorrow will be the abbreviated "B" draws. With the inclement weather forcing the tournament inside, the only doubles action this weekend is taking place in the championship draw. Elbert and Prinz will contest B1 singles tomorrow for the Fords, while Phelps is the lone Haverford player in the B2 singles draw.
Singles
#9 Luis Acaba – Championship Singles
Round of 64: Won vs. JT von Seggern (Randolph), 6-1, 6-0
Round of 32: Lost vs. Kiril Kirkov (Carnegie Mellon), 6-3, 7-6 (3)
Josh Moskovitz – Championship Singles
Round of 64: Lost vs. Yuvraj Kumar (Carnegie Mellon), 6-4, 7-5
Consolation Round 1: vs. William Bannister (Washington & Lee) (Sunday, 11:30 a.m.)
Dais Nakayama – Championship Singles
Round of 64: Won vs. Joseph Siami (Washington & Lee), 6-2, 6-2
Round of 32: Lost vs. Brandon Griffin (Mary Washington), 6-3, 6-3
Harrison Elbert – B1 Singles
Round of 16: vs. Joseph Dellenbeck (Mary Washington) (Sunday, 10:30 a.m.)
Ishaan Prinz – B1 Singles
Round of 16: vs. Sam Loring (Dickinson) (Sunday, 10:30 a.m.)
Eli Phelps – B2 Singles
Round of 16: vs. Ryan Berry (Mary Washington) (Sunday, 8 a.m.)
Doubles
Harrison Elbert/Nick Sweeney – Championship Doubles
Round of 64: Lost vs. Jeffrey Chen/Kenny Zheng (Carnegie Mellon), 8-5
Consolation Round 1: Bye
Consolation Round 2: vs. Christopher Salisbury/Jake Sandler (Washington College) (Sunday, 9 a.m.)
Josh Moskovitz/Dais Nakayama – Championship Doubles
Round of 64: Bye
Round of 32: Lost vs. Eric Hurwitz/Nolan Perugini (Mary Washington), 8-4
Eli Phelps/Ishaan Prinz – Championship Doubles
Round of 64: Won vs. Matthew Tuorto/John Wylie (Moravian), 7-6 (2)
Round of 32: Lost vs. Abhishek Alla/Kiril Kirkov (Carnegie Mellon), 9-8, 7-6 (3)