Sept. 23, 2011
Tournament Central Page/Results
Flushing Meadows, N.Y. -
Fresh off a 3-0 start to their fall season, members of the Fordham men's tennis team took to tournament action on Friday, opening play at the 2011 USTA Billie Jean King NTC Men's College Invitational, held at the National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York. In all, Fordham players posted a 3-0 record in singles play and a 1-4 mark in doubles action.
In the Men's Open Doubles "A" flight, Fordham's team of Srikar Alla and Kuba Kowlaski opened the action with an 8-5 win over Nathaniel Fleming and Chris Jimenez of St. Francis (Pa.) University in the round of 16. All and Kowalski moved on to the quarterfinals against George Washington's Ulrik Thomsen and Axel Van Gils, but came up short against their A-10 rivals by a count of 8-5.
The Men's Open Doubles "B" saw Fordham's Peder Gram and Mischa Koran team together against Fairfield's Ian Tesmond and Dennis Zlobinsky, but the Rams' duo fell to the Stags, 8-5.
The Rams' final pairing on day one was Michael Puntillo and J.J. Tauil in the Men's Open Doubles "C" flight. The duo lost their opening match in the round of 16 to Tom Deighton and Michael Riechmann of Brown, 8-5, and later fell to the #2 seed, Boston College's Jonathan Schroeder and Matt Wagner, in the backdraw, 8-3.
In singles action, Kowalski began play in the Men's Open Singles "D" draw, opening with a 5-7, 6-3, and 10-4 win over Dartmouth's Chris Ho in the round of 16. Kowalski will play Marist's Will Reznek in the quarterfinals.
Alla and Koran are also in singles' competition in the Men's Open Singles "E" draw with Alla being the #1 seed and Koran the #4 seed. Alla opened with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Princeton's Coleman Crutchfield in the round of 16, while Koran topped Penn's Zach Katz in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4. Alla will face Dartmouth's Sam Todd in the quarterfinals, with Koran taking on Marist's Joe Dube.
Tauil and Gram are both scheduled in the Men's Open Singles "G" draw, but neither match was able to get underway due to weather delays. Tauil was set to face Boston College's Joe Davison, while Gram will face NJIT's Ike Kiro.
The same went for Puntillo in the Men's Open Singles "H" draw as he was set to play St. Peter's Alex Frakes.
Play will continue on Saturday at 9:00 AM.
