Kipouras and Sakinis Win First Round of Doubles at ITA?s

Tuesday, September 30

Tulsa, Okla.

All Day

Dartmouth College

Day Two

Kipouras and Sakinis Win First Round of Doubles at ITA?s

9/30/2014 8:48:00 PM | Men's Tennis

By: Dartmouth

TULSA, Okla. – On the second day of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Men's All-American Championships at the University of Tulsa on Tuesday, senior Chris Kipouras and junior Dovydas Sakinis were victorious in their doubles match against Louisville. Both members of the Big Green men's tennis team competed in singles later on in the day, falling in close matches.

“While we could have played a bit better in singles I think it was a really good experience for Kip and Dovy to play here,” said head coach Chris Drake. “They learned some really good lessons that are going to help them be better players and it was great for them to be challenged in a nationally competitive environment.”

In the first round of doubles, the Big Green duo defeated Sebastian Stiefelmeyer and Albert Wagner of Louisville, dropping the first set, 4-6, before winning the remaining two by scores of 6-4, 10-4. In the second round of the singles qualifying draw, Sakinis fell to Adrien Berkowicz of Texas, 6-2, 7-5. Kipouras dropped his consolation match to Tobias Galskoy of California, Santa Barbara, by a score of 6-1, 6-3.

“I was thrilled with their approach in doubles and would have been impressed even if they had lost their match,” Drake continued. “They were really focused on the process of playing properly, which is what we are hoping for this fall.”

In the second round of doubles against Paul Oosterban and Ben Wagland of Georgia later that evening, Kipouras and Sakinis narrowly dropped the match, 7-6(6), 7-6(4).

“The last two doubles matches were two of the best I've seen our guys play,” said Drake. “The team from Georgia is very good and could possibly win the tournament and we had set points in both sets. We will keep working, but it is nice to see that the things we are doing are paying off.”