From Washington University Athletics
In a weekend full of big victories, the University of Chicago men's tennis team saved their best for last. The Maroons won the doubles title and advanced three players to the singles semifinals at day three of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Central Region Championships on Sunday.
The sophomore duo of Nicolas Chua and David Liu came in as the No. 11 seed and faced off against the No. 2 seeds from Kenyon College in the semifinal. The Maroons came away with an 8-5 win to advance to the final, which pitted them against the No. 1 seeds from Case Western Reserve University. In the best of three sets final, Chua and Liu emerged victorious 6-2, 6-4. The regional doubles title secures the UChicago tandem a spot in the USTA/ITA National Small College Championships in October.
Five Maroons were in the singles draw quarterfinals to start the day. Freshman Max Liu defeated sophomore teammate David Liu 6-4, 6-3 in their quarterfinal. In his semifinal match versus the No. 5 seed from Kalamazoo College, Liu was the winner in three sets 6-2, 6-7, 6-2.
The other side of the singles bracket featured another pair of Maroons battling in a quarterfinal – No. 16-seed sophomore Luke Tsai versus No. 11-seed sophomore Peter Leung. Tsai earned the win 6-2, 7-5. He will next face his teammate Nicolas Chua in the semifinal. Chua, who is the defending ITA singles champion and the No. 2 seed, beat the No. 29 seed from Allegheny College 6-7, 7-5, 6-2.
With UChicago's academic year set to begin on Monday, the ITA singles semifinal and final will be played on the Hyde Park campus. The Chua versus Tsai semifinal will be played on Monday at approximately 3:00 PM. The winner will then face Liu in the final on Tuesday at approximately 3:00 PM. The singles champion will earn a bid to the USTA/ITA National Small College Championships.
The Maroons were also alive in the consolation doubles. The sophomore pair of Leung and Michael Selin moved through the semis due to walkover and lost in the consolation final 8-5 to Washington University-St. Louis.
"It was an outstanding and historic day," said Head Coach Jay Tee. "Over the first two days of the tournament, we put ourselves in a great position to have a big day three, and we did. We won some tough matches over some very good opponents and are glad to be bringing home the singles and doubles championships back to Chicago for the second-straight year. In a tournament as tough and deep as this one, we showed a tremendous amount of mental and physical toughness in all of our matches. We are looking forward to representing UChicago at nationals and are hopeful that this is a sign of things to come."