The men’s tennis team opened its Fall season last weekend at the Middlebury College Invitational with strong play in both singles and doubles action, sending three players to the tournament’s second day. Brian Granoff ’17 led the charge for the Judges, defeating the tournament’s top seed, Middlebury senior Ari Smolyar, in the semifinals en route to Brandeis’ only finals appearance of the tournament on the weekend. 

Granoff led off the tournament’s A Singles Flight with a three-set victory over Tufts University sophomore Rohan Gupte on Friday afternoon, taking down the Jumbos player 4-6, 6-1, 10-5. 

Granoff moved through the quarterfinals with a straight-set 6-4, 6-2 victory over Skidmore junior Kit Sanderson to set up a meeting with Smolyar in the semifinals on Sunday. Granoff needed a tiebreaker to take the first set from Smolyar and had a 4-2 lead in the second before Smolyar defaulted, handing Granoff a spot in the finals, where Granoff fell to Middlebury junior Noah Farrell. 

Ethan Saal ’18 also made it to the semifinals of the C Singles Flight, taking down opponents from Trinity University and Skidmore College before falling to Tufts freshman Garrett Weinstein in straight sets in the semifinals. Weinstein took the semifinal matchup 6-3, 6-4 before going on to claim the title in the C Singles Flight. Saal made quick work of the opposition in both his first round and quarterfinals matches, taking the first round match by a 6-2, 6-4 score and the quarterfinals with an impressive 7-6, 6-1 victory. 

Jordan Brodie ’19 and Jeff Cherkin ’17 both advanced to the quarterfinals of the D Singles Flight but lost their matches in the quarters and were unable to advance to the semifinals. Cherkin won his opening round match 6-2, 6-1, but fell in a marathon match in the quarterfinals 7-6 (5), 0-6, 10-7.

Brandeis sent two players to the B Singles Flight, where Tyler Ng ’19 fell to the flight’s top seed in the first round and Jackson Kogan ’17 won his opening round match by a final of 6-4, 6-4. Kogan was unable to build on his performance and subsequently fell in the quarterfinals 7-5, 6-1.

The Judges also sent two pairs of doubles teams to the tournament, headed by the performance of Saal and Ryan Bunis ’17, who earned a spot in the A Doubles Flight semifinals. The pair took two 9-7 victories in the first round and quarterfinals to set up a meeting in the semifinals on the second day of the tournament, but fell 8-2 to the tournament’s runner ups. The Judges will return to action this weekend for the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Regional Championships, hosted by Williams College.

—Avi Gold