NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The second day of the ITA Midwest Regional tournament started with senior Daniel Rayl advancing through to the main draw following a 6-3, 6-2 win over his Cleveland State opponent, Raul Teichmann.
He joins nine other Irishmen in the main draw, including Nathan Griffin, Johnathan Small, Matt Gamble, Guillermo Cabrera, Axel Nefve, William Howells, Grayson Broadus, Tristan McCormick and Richard Ciamarra. The main draw begins Saturday at 8 a.m. at the Eck Tennis Pavilion.
The Irish had six doubles teams competing with half advancing through to the third round.
Grayson Broadus and Matt Gamble paved the way for Notre Dame, defeating their Northern Illinois opposition in the first round of doubles play. They were followed by Paul Gota and Nathan Griffin who brought down Valparaiso, 8-7(3). Also in the round of 64, Johnathan Small/Conor Somers lost a close one to Wisconsin 8-7(5) and Guillermo Cabrera/Rayl dropped a tight 8-6 decision.
The round of 32 featured four Irish duos. Alex Lebedev and William Howells opened their ITA Regional action with an 8-5 victory over Michigan. Tristan McCormick and Richard Ciamarra also saw their first match action of the weekend in a win over Toledo 8-5. Broadus/Gamble took down Cleveland State in an 8-6 match to claim their second victory of the day, advancing to the third round.
In the final matches of the day, Lebedev/Howells fell to Ohio State while Broadus and Gambles’ run also came to an end, losing to Michigan in a close 8-6 contest. The day ended with a convincing 8-4 win over Western Michigan for McCormick/Ciamarra, advancing to the quarterfinal round later this weekend.
The third day of competition will feature 10 members of the Irish team competing in the singles main draw. Action begins at 8 a.m. and results will be streamed live through the men’s tennis schedule page on und.com.
–ND–