Post advances to Round of 32 as rain cuts the remainder of Day 1 short at ITAs
Men's tennis struggles, while Post provides a bright spot in a tough opening day at the ITA Southeast Regional
SUMTER, S.C. – The Carson-Newman men's tennis team began its run to the ITA Cup on Friday, highlighted by Alexandre Post advancing to the Round of 32.
"Our men's players fought hard in moments. We need to do a better job closing when the opportunity presents itself," head coach Nathan Gangelhoff said. "Alex had a great first round, played with a lot of confidence. We played well, all things considered, we just couldn't close when it was time."
The day started in Flight A's doubles bracket with Louis Keenan and Darko Kovelski playing against Brendan Jayaprakash and Harry Pugh from Lander. The Eagles duo took an early lead, 5-1. But Jayaprakash and Pugh fought back fiercely, winning seven consecutive games to win the match 8-5.
Moving on to the singles bracket, Keenan and Kovelski competed in Flight B. It is an alternative bracket to create more matches for the players, but it does not count towards the ITA Cup.
Keenan dropped in his opening round match to Diego Vega from Francis Marion, 3-6, 2-6. While Kovelski fell to Lander's Maxence Barriere in three sets, 0-6, 6-3, 1-10.
In Flight A, senior Keegan Nelson didn't have his best stuff going, losing to Edoardo Pilia from SAC counterpart Coker, 0-6, 0-6.
As for the Post, he moved on to the next round with a win over Peru Bayo, 6-3, 6-4. He began his Round of 32 matchup with North Georgia's Pedro Liborio; however, heavy rain and thunderstorms passed through the Sumter area, wrapping up Day 1 in a delay.
Post and Liborio will pick up where they left off tomorrow, with the winner advancing to the Round of 16.
