HILLSDALE, Mich. - Over Friday and Saturday, Tiffin men's tennis competed at the Charger Invitational to open their 2019-20 campaign.
The Dragons faced off against singles and doubles pairings from Ashland, Purdue Northwest, and host Hillsdale.
In A doubles, Michael Gurtner and Nikita Parfenov defeated Ashland 6-3 in their opening match, but fell to PNW in the semifinals. Hugo Chatras and Gabriel de Oliveira also competed in A doubles, falling to Ashland and then PNW in the consolations.
Tiffin also had a doubles duo win their first match in B doubles, as Austin Mohamedali and Jose Sastron took down Hillsdale 6-4 to advance to the semifinals. However, they would fall in a tough 6-4 match to Ashland. Timothy Richardson and Ryan Crocker also competed in B doubles, coming up short against Ashland and then PNW in the consolations.
Parfenov had an impressive start in A singles, taking down the No. 10-ranked player in the region from Ashland in a thrilling match that went to an 11-9 tiebreaker. He also pulled out another exciting victory in the semifinals, defeating Hillsdale 6-2, 5-7, 10-6 to reach the final. Parfenov may have played more tennis than any other Dragon over the weekend, as his finals match also went to a tiebreaker, but the junior could not complete the run and fell to Ashland 4-6, 7-5, 7-10.
Gurtner also won his first singles match against Hillsdale in A singles, but fell to the eventual bracket winner from Ashland in the semifinals. In B singles, Sastron and Chatras both dropped their opening matches to fall into the consolations. Chatras was able to pull out a 7-6, 6-4 victory over Ashland to reach the consolation final, but fell to Hillsdale in a tiebreaker.
Mohamedali won his first two matches at C singles over Purdue Northwest (6-4, 6-4) and Ashland (7-6, 7-6) to reach the finals, but fell in the final match. Oliveira (C singles), Caleb Carter (D singles), and Benjamin Szarek (D singles) also competed for Tiffin.
The Dragons will head to another invitational next weekend as they travel to Oberlin on Sept. 21 and 22.