SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. (October 9, 2023) – It was a great weekend for the Denison University men's tennis team as the Big Red brought home two singles championships and a doubles championship from the Skidmore East vs. The Rest Invitational. Kael Shah won the A singles draw, beating out teammate Ethan Green in the finals, while Andy Mackler won the B singles draw and teamed up with Jacob Patterson to defeat Shah and Green in the A doubles championship.

The tournament featured all nationally ranked teams and three in the top-five from last season's year-end rankings:  #2 Tufts, #3 Middlebury, #5 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, #15 Denison, #22 MIT, #29 Wesleyan, and #33 Skidmore.

The tournament also consisted of three singles draws (A, B, C) and two doubles draws (A, B). In singles, all nine Denison players in action won their first-round matchup to advance to the quarterfinals while six Big Red players advanced to the semifinals of their respective draw and four advanced to the finals. In doubles, both of Denison's duos in the A draw advanced to the finals as Denison claimed three total championships at the tournament.

In the A singles draw, Shah was seeded second overall and was joined by Patterson and Green. Shah earned a 3-6, 6-1, 1-0 (10-5) comeback win over Nathan Jackson (Middlebury) while Green took down No. 4-seeded Tarm Rojanasoonthon (CMS) 7-5, 6-1 to both reach the semifinals. After No. 1-seeded Derin Acaroglu (Tufts) defeated Patterson 6-2, 7-5 in their quarterfinal matchup, Green took on Acaroglu in the semifinals and rolled to a 6-3, 6-2 win to reach the finals. Shah, meanwhile, matched up against No. 3-seeded JT Bilski (Wesleyan) in the semifinals and earned another three-set win, this time at 6-3, 0-6, 1-0 (10-5). Lastly, in the finals between Shah and Green, it was Shah who came out on top 6-1, 6-0.

Zachary Portnoy was seeded second in the B singles draw and was joined by Anthony Payiavlas and Mackler. Payiavlas topped No. 1 Andre Djokic (Tufts) 1-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-0) and Mackler defeated Garv Bahl (Tufts) 7-5, 6-7 (2-7), 1-0 (10-3) to match up against each other in the semifinals. In their semifinal battle, it was Mackler who won in three sets, 6-1, 4-6, 1-0 (10-8), to advance to the finals, where he ultimately won 5-0, retired over Siddarth Marathe (MIT), who was coming off a wild 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 1-0 (14-12) victory over Portnoy in the semifinals.

Milan Gonela was seeded first in the C draw and was joined by Nickawn Namdar and Colin Gramley. Namdar topped No. 4 Sacha Maes (Tufts) 7-5, 6-4 in the quarterfinals, and in the semifinals, he matched up against Nikky Kondamuri (Middlebury), who was coming into the round off a 6-4, 7-6 (9-7) defeat of Gonela. In their semifinal matchup, Namdar won in three sets against Kondamuri, 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 (10-5), to reach the finals against Jex Frankel (Wesleyan), where he unfortunately came up short by a score of 6-3, 6-2 as Denison was denied a sweep of the singles championships.

In the A doubles draw, the duo of Shah and Green were seeded third overall while also competing in the top doubles draw was the pairing of Mackler and Patterson. Mackler and Patterson proceeded to win three straight matches to reach the finals while Shah and Green received a first-round bye but also advanced to the finals. In the finals, it was Mackler and Patterson coming out on top by a final score of 8-7 (7-5) in a tiebreaker to claim the championship and keep Shah from his second championship of the tournament. It was also a big win for a duo of Mackler and Patterson against a duo of Shah and Green that will be competing together at the ITA Cup later this week.

Gramley and Payiavlas were seeded second in the B doubles draw and were joined by the combinations of Portnoy/Gonela and Nadeem Jones/Namdar. Portnoy and Gonela started it off with an 8-7 (7-4) win over Brett Keeling/Max Lustgarten (Wesleyan) before falling 8-3 to No. 1 Alex Ganchev/Andre Djokic (Tufts) in the quarterfinals, and Gramley and Payiavlas won 8-2 over Louis Bourn/Harrison Gradin (Skidmore) in the quarterfinals before falling 8-6 against No. 3 Mauricio Gutierrez/Javier Gonzalez (Tufts) in the semifinals.

Next up for the Big Red, Ethan Green and Kael Shah will compete in the double championship at the 2023 ITA Cup, hosted October 12-16 at the Rome Tennis Center at Berry College (Roma, Ga.).
 
Skidmore East vs. The Rest Invitational Results (Link):
Singles Competition:
A Flight Singles
First Round: Jacob Patterson (Denison) def. Hugh Hentschel (Middlebury) 7-6 (7-4), 7-5
First Round: Ethan Green (Denison) def. Josh Finkle (Skidmore) 6-3, 6-2
First Round: No. 2 Kael Shah (Denison) def. Javier Gonzalez (Tufts) 6-2, 6-3
Quarterfinals: No. 1 Derin Acaroglu (Tufts) def. Jacob Patterson (Denison) 6-2, 7-5
Quarterfinals: Ethan Green (Denison) def. No. 4 Tarm Rojanasoonthon (CMS) 7-5, 6-1
Quarterfinals: No. 2 Kael Shah (Denison) def. Nathan Jackson (Middlebury) 3-6, 6-2, 1-0 (10-5)
Semifinals: Ethan Green (Denison) def. No. 1 Derin Acaroglu (Tufts) 6-3, 6-2
Semifinals: No. 2 Kael Shah (Denison) def. (3) JT Bilski (Wesleyan) 6-3, 0-6, 1-0 (10-5)
Finals: No. 2 Kael Shah (Denison) def. Ethan Green (Denison) 6-1, 6-0
 
B Flight Singles
First Round: Anthony Payiavlas (Denison) def. Joe Mairs (Middlebury) 4-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-6)
First Round: Andy Mackler (Denison) def. Harry Portnoy (Wesleyan) 1-6, 6-2, 1-0 (10-3)
First Round: No. 2 Zachary Portnoy (Denison) def. Aarush Ganji (Tufts) 6-3, 6-7, 1-0 (10-6)
Quarterfinals: Anthony Payiavlas (Denison) def. No. 1 Andre Djokic (Tufts) 1-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-0)
Quarterfinals: Andy Mackler (Denison) def. Garv Bahl (Tufts) 7-5, 6-7 (2-7), 1-0 (10-3)
Quarterfinals: No. 2 Zachary Portnoy (Denison) def. Harry Collomb (Wesleyan) 7-5, 7-6 (7-3)
Semifinals: Andy Mackler (Denison) def. Anthony Payiavlas (Denison) 6-1, 4-6, 1-0 (10-8)
Semifinals: Siddarth Marathe (MIT) def. No. 2 Zachary Portnoy (Denison) 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 1-0 (14-12)
Finals: Andy Mackler (Denison) def. Siddarth Marathe (MIT) 5-0, retired
 
C Flight Singles
First Round: No. 1 Milan Gonela (Denison) def. Adel Aissaoui (Skidmore) 6-3, 3-6, 1-0 (13-11)
First Round: Nickawn Namdar (Denison) def. Kyle Lundberg (Skidmore) 6-2, 6-2
First Round: Colin Gramley (Denison) def. Mauricio Gutierrez (Tufts) 6-1, 6-3
Quarterfinals: Nikky Kondamuri (Middlebury) def. No. 1 Milan Gonela (Denison) 6-4, 7-6 (9-7)
Quarterfinals: Nickawn Namdar (Denison) def. No. 4 Sacha Maes (Tufts) 7-5, 6-4
Quarterfinals: No. 3 Thehan Wijemanne (Middlebury) def. Colin Gramley (Denison) 4-6, 6-1, 1-0 (13-11)
Semifinals: Nickawn Namdar (Denison) def. Nikky Kondamuri (Middlebury) 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 (10-5)
Finals: vs. Jex Frankel (Wesleyan) def. Nickawn Namdar (Denison) 6-3, 6-2


Doubles Competition:
A Flight Doubles
First Round: Andy Mackler/Jacob Patterson (Denison) def. Nika Mori/ Yuval Goodman (Skidmore) 8-5
Quarterfinals: Andy Mackler/Jacob Patterson (Denison) def. Harry Collomb/Max Litton (Wesleyan) 8-3
Quarterfinals: No. 2 Kael Shah/Ethan Green (Denison) def. Neel Epstein/Noah Lewis (Middlebury) 8-5
Semifinals: Andy Mackler/Jacob Patterson (Denison) def. Shrish Choudhary/Siddarth Marathe (MIT) 8-2
Semifinals: No. 2 Kael Shah/Ethan Green (Denison) def. JT Bilski/Ben Mitchell (Wesleyan) 8-4
Finals: Andy Mackler/Jacob Patterson (Denison) def. No. 2 Kael Shah/Ethan Green (Denison) 8-7 (7-5)
 
B Flight Doubles
First Round: Zachary Portnoy/Milan Gonela (Denison) def. Brett Keeling/Max Lustgarten (Wesleyan) 8-7 (7-4)
First Round: Jex Frankel/Brian Lee (Wesleyan) def. Nadeem Jones/Nickawn Namdar (Denison) 8-7 (7-3)
Quarterfinals: No. 1 Alex Ganchev/Andre Djokic (Tufts) def. Zachary Portnoy/Milan Gonela (Denison) 8-3
Quarterfinals: No. 2 Colin Gramley/Anthony Payiavlas (Denison) def. Louis Bourn/Harrison Gradin (Skidmore) 8-2
Semifinals: No. 3 Mauricio Gutierrez/Javier Gonzalez (Tufts) def. No. 2 Colin Gramley/Anthony Payiavlas (Denison) 8-6
 
B Flight Doubles Backdraw
Semifinals: Nathan Jackson/Max Kim (Middlebury) def. Nadeem Jones/Nickawn Namdar (Denison) 8-3