Dukes Find Groove at River City Tennis Open

Friday, October 4

Richmond, Va.

James Madison University

River City Tennis Open

10/6/2024 7:04:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score

RICHMOND, Va. – James Madison turned in a solid performance at the 2024 River City Tennis Open (Oct. 4-6), amassing 28 total wins, which included winning every singles match over the final two days.

Friday's action was held at the University of Richmond's Westhampton Tennis Complex, while Saturday and Sunday's matches were contest at the Country Club of Virginia.

The Dukes combined to go 28-8 on the weekend, turning in an 18-6 singles record and 10-2 doubles mark.

After a slow start in singles, going 2-6 Friday, the Dukes won all 16 singles matches at CCV against competitors from Navy and Longwood. The Dukes swept doubles play Friday against tandems from Bucknell and Georgetown while claiming six of eight doubles matches Saturday versus Navy and William & Mary.

Edson Sanchez and Dennis Wiebe each went 3-0 in singles play, while the rest of the roster turned in a 2-1 mark. The tandems of Esteve Agusti and Aurelien Schmitt and Zach Fleishman and Francisco Sinopoli finished the weekend with an unblemished 3-0 doubles ledger.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Friday vs. Bucknell and Georgetown

JMU opened the weekend going four-for-four in doubles, winning each bout in tightly contests matchups.
Agusti and Schmitt took down Bucknell's Nelson Alapi and William Robinson by the score of 7-5, while Harrison Lee and Wiebe downed Georgetown's Sahil Morey and Dean Rostom by the same score.
Fleishman and Sinopoli defeated Georgetown's Akira Morgenstern and Burke Pablo, 6-4, and Markus Giersiepen and Sanchez closed things out with a 7-4 tiebreak win over GU's Jams O'Sullivan and Henry Williams to take the match, 7-6 (4).
The Dukes managed just two singles wins against the same schools, with four losses coming in supertiebreakers.
JMU did get wins from Sanchez, who downed Pablo, 6-3, 6-3, and Wiebe, who won 7-6, 6-2 over Morey.

Saturday vs. Navy and William & Mary

JMU dominated play Saturday, going a combined 14-2, notching eight singles wins versus Navy and winning six of eight doubles matches.
Agusti and Schmitt won against tandems from Navy and William & Mary by scores of 6-3 and 6-4.
Fleishman and Sinopoli followed suit against a pair of Midshipmen duos, earning wins by scores of 6-3 and 6-2.
JMU also got doubles triumphs from Giersiepen and Sanchez, who blanked Navy's Kai Edwards and Marcus Zhang (6-0), and Lee and Wiebe, who later beat the same squad (6-1).
Of JMU's eight singles wins, seven came via straight sets.
Agusti beat George Cutone, 6-1, 6-4, while Sinopoli won the only three setter, taking down Jake Young, 6-4, 4-5, 1-0 (8).
Fleishman cruised past Charlie Spencer, 6-1, 6-2, and Sanchez conceded just two total games en route to a 6-2, 6-0 win over Graydon Buckingham. Wiebe defeated Aaron Gu by scores of 6-1, 6-3 and Lee dominated in his won over Jonathan Lee, at 6-0, 6-2.
Singles play was capped off by Schmitt's 6-2, 6-0 triumph versus Zachary Quattro and Giersiepen's 6-0, 6-3 dispatch of Zack Giertz.

Sunday vs. Longwood

While JMU suffered four super tiebreak defeats Friday, the opposite happened Sunday, as JMU went 8-0 versus Longwood with four victories occurring in supers.
Earning straight-set wins were Fleishman (6-3, 6-4 vs. Petar Belosevic), Schmitt (6-0, 7-5 vs. Alejandro Uribe), Lee (6-2, 6-3 vs. Kuan Chang Huang) and Giersiepen (6-3, 6-0 vs. Vselovod Rusin).

Three of four super tiebreak wins also happened after Dukes fell behind a set.
Agusti rallied back to defeat Timeo Puech, 2-6, 6-2, 1-0 (5), while Sinopoli came back to beat Juan Gonzalez Paia, 2-6, 7-5, 1-0 (7).
Wiebe earned the win over Marko Mrdak, at 6-2, 5-7, 1-0 (5), and Sanchez rounded things out with a come-from-behind 4-6, 6-1, 1-0 (2) victory versus Petter Lindquist.

UP NEXT
JMU heads to Norfolk, Va., for the 2024 ITA Atlantic Regional Championship, which takes place Oct. 10-14. The qualification round begins Thursday, while main-draw action commences Friday.