The Illinois Springfield men's tennis team opened play at the Dwight Davis College Open on Friday in St, Louis, advancing five players to the quarterfinals in their respective singles flights.
In Flight A, Pablo Herrera earned a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Arkhip Tokmakov and will face Eric Kuo on Saturday morning. Antonio Ayerbe Streubel advanced as well, winning 7-5, 5-0 before his opponent retired. He will meet Shaan Patel in his next match on Saturday.
Lin En Tan battled through a long three-set match to take a 6-1, 6(6)-7(8), 10-7 victory, while Miran Todorovic earned his spot in the quarterfinals with a 6-1, 6(4)-7(7), 10-6 win. Luke Pennington rounded out the group of quarterfinalists, defeating Andres Castellanos Carillo 6-4, 7-5.
Three Prairie Stars will continue in consolation play after Friday's matches. Kai Van-Roon fell 7(7)-6(5), 6-4, Colton Pazdera dropped a 6-1, 6-2 result, and Lukas Pieringer also fell 6-1, 6-2. Each will play again Saturday morning in the consolation rounds.
The Prairie Stars return to action Saturday for singles quarterfinal and consolation matches. UIS will also begin doubles play later in the day.
- Lin En Tan / Miran Todorovic vs. Luca Lo Nardo / Declan Townsend – 5:00 p.m. (Flight 1)
- Pablo Herrera / Lukas Pieringer vs. Eric Kuo / Colin Scruggs – 5:45 p.m. (Flight 2)
- Kai Van-Roon / Luke Pennington vs. Manaye Mossman / Kolten Tabbert – 5:00 p.m. (Flight 3)
- Colton Pazdera / Antonio Ayerbe Streubel vs. Nihal Narisetty / Karam Dhawan – 5:45 p.m. (Flight 3)