Oct. 3, 2003
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame men’s tennis team competed in a number of close matches Friday in the Eck Tennis Pavilion on the opening day of the 17th annual Tom Fallon Invitational. Highlighting the first day were three Irish victories in four doubles matches. Play continues Saturday in the Eck Tennis Pavilion.
Three Notre Dame players won in both singles and doubles. Playing in front of a hometown crowd for the first time as a collegiate player, freshman Ryan Keckley (South Bend, Ind./St. Joseph H.S.) was impressive, defeating Mike Green of Alabama 7-6, 6-3 prior to beating Michigan’s Vineeth Gossain and Ryan Heller 8-4 in doubles, paired with junior Brent D’Amico (Castle Rock, Colo./St. Stephen’s Episcopal School). He is 4-0 this fall in singles.
Sophomore Eric Langenkamp (Scarsdale, N.Y./Scarsdale H.S.) also moved to 4-0 this season in singles action, topping Michigan’s Josef Fischer 6-1, 3-6, 1-0 (10-3). He won the C flight title in the season-opening Rice Crowne Plaza Invitational earlier this month. Langenkamp then paired with freshman Stephen Bass (Bronxville, N.Y./Iona Preparatory School) for an 8-5 victory over Fischer and Steven Peretz in doubles.
Senior tri-captain Matthew Scott (Oakton, Va./International School of Paris) continued his strong start with a 6-3, 3-6, 1-0 (10-3) win over Michigan’s Brian Hung. He then teamed with classmate and fellow tri-captain Luis Haddock (Caguas, P.R./Notre Dame H.S.) to dominate Hung and Michael Rubin in doubles, pulling off an 8-1 win. Scott is 7-2 this fall in singles and 4-1 in doubles. The pair of seniors has a career record of 8-2 playing together.
Notre Dame also got a singles victory from junior Jimmy Bass (Bronxville, N.Y./Iona Preparatory School), who defeated Army’s Kyle Roybal 6-2, 6-1. Three other Irish players lost in match tiebreakers, which were played in lieu of a third set.
Play will continue Saturday in the Tom Fallon Invitational. The Irish will get underway at 10 a.m. (EST) in singles action against players from Purdue. Notre Dame will play more singles at Noon vs. Alabama. Doubles begins at 2 p.m., with the Irish taking on Michigan State. At 4 p.m., Notre Dame competitors will play more doubles against a variety of teams. Irish players may also see action at various other times throughout the day. All Notre Dame contests will be played in the Eck Tennis Pavilion, while some other matches will take place in the South Bend Racket Club.
The Tom Fallon Invitational is named after legendary former Irish tennis coach Tom Fallon, who compiled a 514-194 (.726) record in 31 years leading the program, winning the 1959 national championship. He was inducted into the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s (ITA) Hall of Fame in 1988. Fallon began the tradition of a fall men’s tennis season, starting the Irish Invitational in 1970. The tournament was renamed in his honor when he retired in 1987.
The TFI features a “hidden dual” format, in which teams play simulated dual matches against each other, but no team scores are recorded. All individual results are counted for ranking purposes.
Tom Fallon Invitational
Singles
#78 Michael Rubin (Michigan) d. #64 Luis Haddock (ND) 3-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-6)
Matthew Scott (ND) d. Brian Hung (M) 6-3, 3-6, 1-0 (10-3)
Eric Langenkamp (ND) d. Josef Fischer (M) 6-1, 3-6, 1-0 (10-3)
Steven Peretz (M) d. Patrick Buchanan (ND) 6-3, 6-2
Ryan Heller (M) d. Irackli Akhvlediani (ND) 6-7, 7-6, 1-0 (10-8)
Carey Rubin (M) d. Bobby McNally (ND) 6-3, 5-7, 1-0 (10-6)
Joseph Jung (Alabama) d. Stephen Bass (ND) 7-5, 6-2
Ryan Keckley (ND) d. Mike Green (Alabama) 7-6, 6-3
Jimmy Bass (ND) d. Kyle Roybal (Army) 6-2, 6-1
Dave Collins (Army) d. Nick Chimerakis (ND) 6-2, 6-2
Doubles
Haddock/Scott (ND) d. Brian Hung/Michael Rubin (M) 8-1
D’Amico/Keckley (ND) d. Vineeth Gossain/Ryan Heller (M) 8-4
S. Bass/Langenkamp (ND) d. Josef Fischer/Steven Peretz (M) 8-5
Mike Green/Joseph Jung (Alabama) d. Ben Hatten/Paul Hidaka (ND) 8-4