Sept. 21, 2012
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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue men's tennis fall season began on Friday as the team hosted the first day of the Purdue Invitational. The Boilermakers started the season with a bang as the team went 10-1 on the day including a perfect 5-0 in singles.
The day went smoothly despite multiple weather delays. Rain and lightning forced the 12 outdoor courts to clear three times including once near the end of the day. Despite the delays, the first round of singles and two rounds of doubles were completed in full.
The morning began with a round of singles. Evan Hawkins was the first on the court for Purdue and played in the singles B draw. There, he set the tone for Purdue for the day as he won, 6-2, 6-2. He will play Pulok Bhattacharya of Butler on Saturday at 9 a.m. ET.
Diego Acosta, Aaron Dujovne and Mark Kovacs played in the A singles draw for the Boilermakers. Acosta had a tough morning match with Joe VanMeter of Cleveland State. VanMeter held on to take the first set from Acosta, 7-6 (5). From there, though, it was all Acosta. The Boilermaker sophomore won the next two sets, 6-3, 6-2. He will play Adam Krull of Xavier on Saturday morning. Krull knocked off Matt Hagan of Iowa in the first round.
Dujovne faced Gerard Guell of IPFW on Friday. The junior had little trouble in the opening round as he was victorious, 6-3, 6-4. He will play Matt Kuelker of Cleveland State on Saturday in the second round. Kuelker beat Dominic Patrick of Iowa in the first round in straight sets. Kovacs also breezed through his opening singles match. He took down Michael Savaglio of Valparaiso, 6-2, 6-0. He will play Austin Woldmoe of Butler in round two.
Szymon Tatarczyk played in the singles C draw. He defeated Derek Romer of IPFW, 6-2, 6-3, and will play Aaron Wong of Western Michigan in round two. Freshman Arthur Dobradin had an opening round bye in the singles C draw. He will face Sam O'Neill of Butler on Saturday morning.
The Boilermakers also had a strong singles day. The No. 13 team in the country of Dujovne and Acosta were nearly perfect on the day. The South Americans won their first round match over a Valparaiso pair, 8-1, before taking down Stark and Tehrani of Marquette, 8-0. Dujvone and Acosta will play Woldmoe and Weldon of Butler on Saturday following singles.
Tatarczyk and Kovacs were also 2-0 on the day in doubles. The duo played Raa and Guell of IPFW in the opening round of the A draw and came out on top 8-3. In the second round, the juniors faced Dudzik and Weigand of Toledo and again won, this time 8-5.
Dobradin and Hawkins suffered the only set back of the day for the Boilermakers. The freshman-sophomore duo fell the opening round of the doubles A draw, 8-5, to O'Neill and Bhattacharya of Butler. The loss dropped the two to the consolation bracket of the A draw. There, Dobradin and Hawkins outlasted Honert and Oakes of Valparaiso, 9-7.
Saturday's action is scheduled to start at 9 a.m. with 18 singles matches. Two rounds of singles will be played before moving to doubles in the afternoon where one round will be played. Live updates will be available on Twitter @PurdueTennis. A full recap and results will also be available following the completion of Saturday's action at PurdueSports.com.