From Carnegie Mellon University Athletics
The Carnegie Mellon University men's tennis team opened the University Athletic Association (UAA) Men's Tennis Championship on Friday, April 24 with a 7-2 first round victory against No. 29 Brandeis University. The Tartans, ranked 10th nationally, are now 15-7 overall and move on to the semifinals.
The Tartans started the match with a victory at first doubles by the senior pair of Will Duncan (Newbury Park, Calif./Newbury Park) and Christian Heaney-Secord (Westwood, Mass./Westwood), 8-3. Sophomore Kenny Zheng (Pennington, N.J./Hopewell Valley Central) and freshman Edward Ang (Cupertino, Calif./Monta Vista) paired at third doubles to win 8-4, giving the team a 2-0 lead.
Brandeis was able to pick up a point with a 9-7 win at second doubles against senior Bryce Beisswanger (Los Angeles, Calif./Viewpoint School) and junior Yuvraj Kumar (New Delhi, India/Millfield School).
Carnegie Mellon won at first, second, third, fourth and fifth singles in straight sets. Junior Abhishek Alla (Hyderabad, India/IMG Pendleton School) put the Tartans ahead 3-1 with a 6-3, 6-2 win at No. 1. Minutes following Alla's victory Heaney-Secord and Duncan won at No. 2 and No. 3 by the scores of 6-4, 6-2 and 6-3, 6-1, respectively, to seal the win for the Tartans.
Sophomores Kunal Wadwani (Saratoga, Calif./Ballarmine College Prep) and Kiril Kirkov (Tampa, Fla./C. Leon King) won at No. 4 and No. 5 singles to claim the Tartans sixth and seventh points. Wadwani won 6-3, 6-0 while Kirkov won 6-3, 6-3.