No, 1 UChicago Men's Tennis Earns Trip to National Quarterfinals with 4-1 Win Over No.10 Kenyon
The top-ranked University of Chicago men's tennis team picked up a 4-1 win over #10 Kenyon on Saturday afternoon to earn a trip to the national quarterfinals for the third consecutive year.
In doubles play, it was all UChicago early on. At #2 doubles, Shrikeshav Murugesan and Gopal Koduri cruised to a 6-1 win, and after a pair of early breaks of serve, Alexander Ekstrand and Markus Ekstrand sealed a 6-2 win to clinch the doubles win for the Maroons.
Murugesan put up the best performance of the day as the sophomore rolled to a dominant ranked victory at #1 singles, taking down the #45 player in NCAA Division III with a 6-1, 6-4 win at #1 singles.
Following a win at #2 singles for the Owls to cut the lead to 2-1, Alexander Ekstrand picked up a straight-set win over his regionally-ranked opponent, earning a break of serve at 4-4 in both sets for the 6-4, 6-4 win at #3 singles.
At #6 singles, Ajer Sher sealed the win for the Maroons. After dropping the first set 3-6, Sher bounced back with a 6-3 win in the second set and a 6-0 bagel in the third seat to clinch the 4-1 victory.
In the remaining two matches, Michael Choi held a 6-1, 4-4 lead at #4 singles, and Christian Liew sent the match to a third set at #6 singles with a 6-0 win in set two after losing a first set tiebreak.
With the win, the Maroons improve to 20-3 overall on the season, and they earn the 12th national championship appearance in program history and their sixth in the past seven years.