Emory Claims Another Division III Men's Team Indoor Title; Opelka Wins Delray Beach; Cressy Captures Drummondville Challenger Title; Colak Sweeps at ITF Grade 4 in Mexico

Last year, the Emory fell short of their fourth straight ITA Men's National Team Indoor title, losing in the final to the University of Chicago. Today the top-seeded Eagles started what they hope will be another string of titles, beating No. 2 seed Claremont Mudd Scripps 5-3 at Gustavus Adolphus in St. Peter Minnesota.

Emory had a 2-1 lead after doubles, but CMS went ahead 3-2 with wins by Nikolai Parodi at line 1 and Nic Meister at line 3. Emory's Antonio Mora tied it with a three-set win at line 2, the first of the three-set matches that would decide the championship. Emory pulled ahead 4-3 with Mark Sverdlov winning at line 4 and with Emory's Rex Serituk up 5-2 and serving at line 5 against Ian Freer, but he was unable to serve out the match at 5-2 or at 5-4. The match at line 6 was still up for grabs with Hassan Kenawi of Emory leading Daniel Park 4-3 in the third, but Serituk finally held serve to force a tiebreaker and won that going away, 7-1 to secure the Eagles' ninth Team Indoor title in the 20-year history of the event.

The ITA's recap of the final is available here.  Box scores from the third, fifth and seventh place matches, as well as photo galleries, are here.

Men's Division III National Indoor Championships
February 23, 2020
Final
Emory[1] d. Claremont Mudd Scripps[2] 5-3
Singles:
1. Nikolai Parodi (CMS) def. Hayden Cassone (EU) 6-0, 6-2
2. Antonio Mora (EU) def. Jack Katzman (CMS) 6-3, 3-6, 6-1
3. Nic Meister (CMS) def. Andrew Esses (EU) 7-5, 6-0
4. Mark Sverdlov (EU) def. Ian Freer (CMS) 7-5, 1-6, 6-2
5. Rex Serituk (EU) def. Robert Liu (CMS) 2-6, 6-2, 7-6(1)
6. Hassan Kenawi (EU) vs. Daniel Park (CMS) 7-6, 5-7, 4-3, unfinished
Order of finish 1,3,2,4,5

Doubles:
1. Ian Freer/Nikolai Parodi (CMS) def. Hayden Cassone/Antonio Mora (EU) 8-7(2)
2. Alec Rabinowitz/Will Wanner (EU) def. Jack Katzman/Robert Liu (CMS) 8-6
3. Andrew Esses/Hassan Kenawi (EU) def. Daniel Park/Nic Meister (CMS) 8-3
Order of finish 3,1,2

Reilly Opelka was forced to play both his semifinal and final today in Delray Beach after rain washed out last night's meeting with No. 2 seed Milos Raonic of Canada. Opelka, the No. 4 seed, saved a match point this morning in his 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-3 decision over Raonic, then faced unseeded Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan, who had finished his semifinal on Saturday, this afternoon. Again Opelka needed three sets, but the 22-year-old South Floridian came through with a 7-5, 6-7(4), 6-2 win, claiming the second ATP title of his career.  For more on Opelka's busy day, see this article from the ATP website.

At the ATP 80 Challenger in Drummondville Canada, two former collegians with double-digit seeds met in the final, with American Maxime Cressy defeating Arthur Rinderknech of France 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-4. Former UCLA Bruin Cressy, the No. 14 seed, did not defend his January 2019 title in Cleveland last month, so saw his ranking fall, but he should be back in the Top 200 with today's title. Rinderknech, the former Texas A&M star seeded No. 12 this week, won his first Challenger last month in France, and he will move to a career high around 206 after making the final. Rinderknech did win the doubles title, partnering Manuel Guinard of France. The unseeded pair defeated Roberto Cid (South Florida) of the Dominican Republic and Goncalo Oliveira of Portgual, also unseeded, 7-6(4), 7-6(3) in the final.

At the ITF Grade 4 in Jalisco Mexico, 15-year-old Ozan Colak swept the titles, earning his fourth ITF doubles title and his first ITF singles title. Colak, the top seed, defeated No. 2 seed and doubles partner Aidan Kim 6-2, 6-2 in the final, and did not drop a set all week.

Kim and Colak, the top seeds in doubles, beat No. 3 seeds Stefan Simeunovic and Jaden Weekes 6-4, 6-1 in the final.

Aubrey Nisbet and Gracie Epps, the No. 8 seeds, won the girls doubles title, beating No. 2 seeds Gabriela Giraldo of Colombia and Lizette Reding of Mexico 6-2, 6-3 in the final. Nisbet, who was unseeded in singles, reached the final, falling to top seed Ana Paula Naranjo Martinez Kobashi of Mexico 6-1, 6-4.