Sakinis Wins First Round of Singles at ITA All-America Champs

Thursday, October 8

Tulsa, Okla.

9:00 AM

Dartmouth College

Day Four

Sakinis Wins First Round of Singles at ITA All-America Champs

10/8/2015 8:57:00 PM | Men's Tennis

By: Dartmouth

TULSA, Okla. – The Dartmouth men's tennis team continued play at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) All-America Championship on Wednesday and Thursday, walking away with a record of 1-1 in doubles and 1-0 in singles.

On Wednesday, seniors Dovydas Sakinis and Brendan Tannenbaum played their first doubles match of the championship, facing Vasco Valverde and Nils Skajaa of San Francisco in the second round of the qualifying draw following a first-round bye. The Big Green duo defeated the Dons, 6-4, 6-4.

In the third round later that day, their match against Vikram Hundal and Jordi Massalle Ferrer of UNC went to three sets. Sakinis and Tannenbaum won the second set, 6-4, but fell in the first and third, 6-3, 10-5.

“Dovydas and Brendan got through a challenging first match by returning well and coming up with some big serves at the end of sets,” assistant coach Tom Boysen said. “In the qualifying round against UNC, they played their best tennis of the tournament. All four players returned so well that the match came down to just a few tough points at the end. I'm very happy with the level of play.”

Sakinis represented Dartmouth on Thursday in the first round of the main draw of singles. The Green senior had a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Florida's Chase Perez-Blanco to advance to the next round.

“I thought Dovydas handled the difficult circumstances of the day very well,” Boysen continued. “He remained focused on the task at hand amid changes to his match time and his opponent. He would be the first to admit that he had a rocky start to the match, but I am so proud of the way he was able to make corrections and adjustments during the match. He moved better as the match progressed, and his consistency and depth improved enough to allow him to play a very clean second set.”

Qualifying Doubles (Second Round, Wednesday)
Sakinis/Tannenbaum (Dartmouth) def. Valverde/Skajaa (San Francisco), 6-4, 6-4

Qualifying Doubles (Third Round, Wednesday)
Hundal/Ferrer (UNC) def. Sakinis/Tannenbaum (Dartmouth), 6-3, 4-6, 10-5

Main Draw Singles (First Round, Thursday)
Sakinis (Dartmouth) def. Perez-Blanco (Florida), 6-4, 6-1