The Drexel University Men’s tennis team took to the courts at the Princeton Innovational in Princeton, NJ in preparation before the first couple of regular season games, back to back, on Oct 17th. Freshman Sinan Orhon was the first Dragon on the courts in the Singles Flight 2 sets, where he advanced to the quarterfinals before losing in straight sets. From there, Orhon was narrowly edged in the consolation ladder match in three sets with the third set ending in a 13-11 loss.
Xabier Saavedra was the next man up in the Singles Flight 4 where things got off on a rocky start. He lost in straight sets in the round of sixteen before being sent to the consolation ladder. There he bounced back and rattled off two straight wins, both in straight sets. The semifinal consolation ladder, however, went ultimately un-played, leaving a bitter ending to the singles flight. Sophomore Balaji Lakshmanan won his first two matches before getting blanked in the semifinals in 1-6 straight set losses.
Kashyap Ashok had slightly less success in Singles Flight 6 where he went on to lose in the consolation ladder after falling in the quarter finals, 2-6, 1-6. In the Singles Flight 7, sophomore Vuk Subotic initially lost in the round of 16, in straight sets 3-6, 3-6. Heading straight into the consolation ladder, Subotic earned a bye in the initial game before winning his first consolation match in three tough sets, 3-6, 6-4, 10-7. The real achievement for the team came when junior Daniil Ginzburg came to play for the dragons. After bypassing the round of 16 courtesy of a dropout, he won the quarterfinals in straight sets, 7-5, 6-2. He had a bit of a trickier time in the semifinals, in which saw a narrow victory in the first set, 7-6 (6), followed by a 6-4 win in the second set. He then won the Singles Flight 7 title with a similar finals in which saw narrow set wins, 7-6, 6-4.
In the doubles games, the Ashok and Orhon pairing saw a rough start with a 3-8 loss in the round of 16. After the initial consolation ladder bye, they went on to win the next match 8-6 before ending their journey as a result of an un-played game. Lakshmanan and Saavedra went up next where they were edged in the opening match, 7-8. They would go on to split the next two consolation ladder matches, losing 5-8 in the final match. In the final doubles match, the Doubles Flight 2, Ginzburg and Subotic went on the court. They would win their first game in the round of 32, 8-3, before getting throttled in the Round of 16, 2-8.
The men’s team will now face Rider University and La Salle University in a double feature on Oct. 17 in their opening games of the season at the Vidas Courts at 11a.m. and 2p.m. The women’s team meanwhile will open their season on the same day against Monmouth University at the Vidas Courts at 11a.m. as well.