From University of Chicago Athletics

The University of Chicago men's tennis team opened its 2015-16 season with a successful first day at the Greater Cincinnati Collegiate Tennis Invitational on Friday.

In a field filled with NCAA Division I teams, a total of 10 Maroons participated in six different singles flights. Five players advanced to the semifinals of their respective brackets – junior Sven Kranz, freshman Charlie Pei, sophomore David Liu, freshman Jonathan Li and sophomore Luke Tsai.

In the second flight, Kranz started the day with a 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 victory over Louis Stuerke of Case Western Reserve University. He then rallied back to defeat Dayton University's Carsten Fisher 2-6, 7-5, 10-8. Pei recorded a three-set win in the third flight, beating Lorenzo Rollhauser (Dayton) 6-3, 2-6, 10-5.

In the fourth flight, Liu picked up a pair of wins over Diego Asis (Eastern Kentucky University) 6-2, 6-3 and Joshua Dughi (Case) 6-2, 4-6, 10-1. Li also advanced to the fourth-flight semis with a quick 6-1, 6-1 triumph over Grant Esposito (Wright State University). Tsai advanced as well over Adam Collins (Case) 6-1, 6-2 in the fifth flight.

"Overall, I thought we had a very good day," said Head Coach Jay Tee. "Everyone was able to pick up a win which will give us a lot of confidence for the rest of the fall season. Everyone played hard and competed at a high level, which is what we are looking for early in the year as we form an identity. Singles was definitely the highlight, with Sven, Charlie and Dave all winning third sets to advance and Luke winning his matches in straight sets. Doubles is still a work in progress, but out returning tandems looked strong and it showed with some quality wins."