From University of Chicago Athletics

The University of Chicago men's tennis team sent one player to the singles final while its doubles tandem finished fourth at the 2014 USTA/ITA National Small College Championships on Friday.

In singles play, UChicago freshman Nicolas Chua faced off against Steven Chen (Wesleyan University) in the semifinal round. Chua broke a 5-5 tie en route to 7-5 first set victory. Chen responded by winning the second set 6-3. In the deciding third set, Chua took the first three games and then the match 6-3.

Chua's next opponent in the final is No. 3-seed Matthew Heinrich (Stevens Institute). The match will start at 8:30 AM (ET) on Saturday.

The doubles team of senior Deepak Sabada and freshman David Liu played a pair of matches on Friday. Their first opponents were Jordan Mayer and Aaron Skinner (Trinity University Texas). Sabada and Liu were up 4-1 in the first set. However, Trinity caught fire and went on to win the match 6-4, 6-1.

The Maroons next faced Heinrich and Ben Foran (Stevens Institute) in the third-place match. Stevens earned the victory 6-4, 6-4.

"We had our ups and down today, but overall it was another very successful day for the men," Head Coach Jay Tee said. "Nick started us out by winning a tough three-setter versus a very good player that he had played before in juniors. Nick had a few moments where he played like a first-year, but when it mattered most he was able to play some of his best tennis of the day and win on his terms. Tomorrow will be another test for him but I believe he has it in him to win the tournament if he plays within himself. On the doubles side, Deepak and David ran into a pair of really good teams who made them pay for any mistake, which in the past few matches they could get away with. I'm encouraged that these two were able to click so quickly and am confident that with more practice they will become even stronger."