#2 Men’s tennis starts the season with two losses against tough opponents

The Case Western Reserve University men’s tennis team, ranked second in Division III, opened its 2023 spring campaign Friday with a pair of losses to quality opponents, falling 5-2 to Wayne State (ranked fifth in Division III) and 4-2. to Northwest Ohio (2022 NAIA runner-up) at the Duchene Athletic Facility in Detroit, Michigan.

The Spartans fell to 0-2 after the two losses.

In the opener, Wayne State, Sr James Hopper and junior Vishwa Aduru beat Cedric Drenth and Daniel Gray 7-6 (4) no. 1 double game, but the Warriors won the other two games to get the double point. Hopper won no. 1 singles 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 from Drenth and as a sophomore Ansh Shah beat Dom Spicer 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-4. 3 singles. However, CWRU dropped four more singles matches, including tough three-set losses at fifth and sixth singles.

Wayne State improved to 3-1 with the win.

CWRU swept three doubles matches against Northwestern Ohio to get one double-header in the team score. Hopper and Aduru won 6-0. 1 single over Malik Omarkhanov and Martin Stanchev, Sr Chris Provenzano and junior Sahil Dayal won 6-0 with no. 2 doubles over Nils Messini and Mike Stieler and the seniors Michael Sutanto and Diego Maza beat Giovanni Branchetti and Sergio Conde 7-6 no. 3 doubles. However, the Racers won four of the five singles matches that were completed for the team to win. Sutanto won 6-1, 6-2. 2 singles marks the only victory for the Spartans. The first year Enmay Devaraj led 6-2, 3-1 from zero. 6 singles when the game was called off.

Northwestern Ohio moved its record to 3-2 with the win.

The Spartans will look to bounce back when they return home tomorrow to the Mayfield Village Racquet Club for three matches against Division III opponents. CWRU hosts Wittenberg at 2 p.m., Wooster at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.^th-ranked Kenyon at 4:30 p.m