VILLANOVA, Pa. – Opening the season against mainly Division I competition, the Haverford College men's tennis team posted strong results over the weekend at the Villanova Invitational.
The tournament format was set up so that each pairing played a doubles match followed by two singles matches, resulting in a best-of-three format. With that setup, Haverford closed its weekend by winning nine of those final 14 matchups after being paired with Colgate to begin play on Friday.
Kevin Yan teamed up with Pranav Krishnan as that duo defeated foes from Rider and Lehigh on its way to a 10th place finish in the White Draw. In addition to a 3-1 record in doubles play, Yan also went 3-1 in singles while Krishnan was victorious in the sweep of Rider. David Kong and George Jiang were right behind their teammates in 11th place. That pairing also went 3-1 during doubles play in the top flight. Jiang won an additional three matches in singles.
Rob Kresch and Arnav Patodia led the Fords in the Blue Draw with an 11th place finish. A three-set loss in singles denied the Fords advancement into the quarterfinal round, but the Kresch/Patodia pairing recovered quickly and defeated opponents from Lafayette and Saint Joseph's while falling only to national power Case Western Reserve. Kresch was the third Ford to post a 3-1 record in singles over the weekend while Patodia added two more victories. Raja Arul and Jason Edmonds fought their way to a 13th place finish in the second draw. Hard-fought tiebreaks in their first two matchups denied them team victories, but they closed the weekend on a high note by winning the final two rounds.
Abhinav Nallapareddy and Jun Mo were third in the Wildcat Draw for Haverford's highest placement of the weekend. That duo defeated Rider by a 2-1 score before Saint Joseph's emerged victorious in the semifinal matchup. However, Nallapareddy and Mo closed the weekend on a strong note with a sweep Loyola. Mo was 2-1 during singles play in addition to the pairing's 2-1 record together in doubles.
With the first tournament of the fall season under their belts, the Fords will return to the courts on Saturday, September 28 for the annual Alumni Match which is slated for a 1 p.m. start. Haverford closes its fall season with the 2019 ITA Southeast Regional at Mary Washington which will run from Friday, October 4 through Sunday, October 6.
Full results
White Draw
Pranav Krishnan/Kevin Yan – 10th place
Round of 16: Lost vs. Rohan Gupta/Nick Potter/Jack Selati (Colgate), 2-1
Doubles: Lost vs. Gupta/Potter; 6-1
Singles: Yan def. Gupta; 4-6, 6-1, 1-0 (7)/Selati def. Krishnan; 6-4, 6-3
Consolation 1: Won vs. Pablo Salan/Javier Melendez (Rider), 3-0
Doubles: Won; 6-4
Singles: Yan def. Salar; 9-8 (3)/Krishnan def. Melendez; 8-6
Consolation 2: Won Skyler Gates/Matthew Fitzmaurice (Lehigh), 2-1
Doubles: Won; 6-1
Singles: Yan def. Gates; 9-8 (3)/Fitzmaurice def. Krishnan; 6-2, 6-3
9th Place: Lost vs. Nate Perrone/Francesco Mowrey (Saint Joseph's), 2-1
Doubles: Won; 6-4
Singles: Perrone def. Yan; 8-4/Mowrey def. Krishnan; 8-2
George Jiang/David Kong – 11th place
Round of 16: Lost vs. Scott Bickel/Peter Hartman (Colgate), 2-1
Doubles: Won; 6-4
Singles: Bickel def. Jiang: 6-4, 6-1/Hartman def. Kong: 4-6, 6-4, 1-0 (6)
Consolation 1: Won vs. Benny Glezer/Kyle Glezer (Loyola), 2-1
Doubles: Won; 6-3
Singles: Jiang def. B. Glezer: 8-5/K. Glezer def. Kong: 3-6, 6-2, 1-0 (4)
Consolation 2: Lost vs. Nate Perrone/Francesco Mowrey (Saint Joseph's), 2-1
Doubles: Lost; 6-4
Singles: Jiang def. Perrone; default/Mowrey def. Kong; 8-1
11th Place: Won vs. Skyler Gates/Matthew Fitzmaurice (Loyola), 2-1
Doubles: Won; 6-4
Singles: Jiang def. Gates; 8-4/Fitzmaurice def. Kong; 8-5
Blue Draw
Rob Kresch/Arnav Patodia – 11th place
Round of 16: Lost vs. Nate Romig/Kun Tan (Colgate), 2-1
Doubles: Lost; 7-6 (6)
Singles: Kresch def. Romig; 2-6, 6-2, 1-0 (8)/Tan def. Patodia; 6-2, 6-7, 1-0 (4)
Consolation 1: Won vs. Josh Wolfe/Ross Coleman (Lafayette), 2-1
Doubles: Lost; 6-3
Singles: Kresch def. Wolfe; 8-4; Patodia def. Coleman; 6-4, 6-0
Consolation 2: Lost vs. Diego Maza/Max Vicario (Case Western Reserve), 3-0
Doubles: Lost; 6-2
Singles: Maza def. Kresch; 8-6/Vicario def. Patodia; 8-5
11th Place: Won vs. Beekman Schaeffer/Luis Janko (Saint Joseph's), 3-0
Doubles: Won; default
Singles: Kresch def. Schaeffer; default/Patodia def. Janko; default
Raja Arul/Jason Edmonds – 13th place
Round of 16: Lost vs. Dean Vlassis/Mason Caldwell/Danny Moini (Colgate), 2-1
Doubles: Lost vs. Vlassis/Caldwell; 6-2
Singles: Edmonds def. Moini; 8-3/Vlassis def. Arul; 7-6 (7), 6-2
Consolation 1: Lost vs. Adrian Tsui/Griffin Clark (Rider), 3-0
Doubles: Lost; 6-2
Singles: Tsui def. Arul; 8-4/Clark def. Edmonds; 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 (6)
Consolation 2: Won vs. John Yorconic/Charles Keller (Lafayette), 2-1
Doubles: Won; 6-2
Singles: Edmonds def. Keller; 8-4/Yurconic def. Arul; 9-8 (4)
13th Place: Won vs. Alex MacNeil/Scott Battalia (Saint Joseph's), 1-0
Doubles: Won; 6-3
Singles: were not contested
Wildcat Draw
Abhinav Nallapareddy/Jun Mo – 3rd place
Quarterfinals: Won vs. Peter Komosinski/Nick Salazar (Rider), 2-1
Doubles: Won; 6-3
Singles: Mo def. Salazar; 6-4, 7-5/Komosinski def. Nallapareddy; 6-0, 6-1
Semifinals: Lost vs. Sam Sauter/Nathan Fioravante (Saint Joseph's), 3-0
Doubles: Lost; 6-3
Singles: Sauter def. Nallapareddy; 6-2, 6-4/Fioravante def. Mo; 8-2
3rd Place: Won vs. Nathan Ferro/Grant Williford (Loyola), 3-0
Doubles: Won vs. Ferro/Williford; 7-6 (7)
Singles: Nallapareddy def. Ferro; 9-7/Mo def. Williford; 8-2