LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Junior Yianni Doropoulos and sophomore Justin Kirstein both captured consolation singles titles at the Louisville Winter Invitational this weekend. Doropoulos collected the singles "C" consolation championship, while Kirstein earned the singles "B" consolation championship.
The pair led the eight Tennessee Tech men's tennis team members who participated in the three-day event at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center on the campus of the University of Louisville. Twelve teams from around the region participated this weekend, including Eastern Kentucky, Indiana, IU-Southeast, Kentucky, Lipscomb, Louisville, Morehead State, Tennessee Tech, Western Kentucky, Wright State, Xavier and Vincennes.
Doropoulos fell in his opening-round match but rebounded with three consecutive wins to take the title. He won in three sets (1-6, 6-2, 11-9) against Marc Pretorius of Xavier before taking down Drew Holcomb of Vincennes in straight sets (6-3, 6-1). In the championship match, Doropoulos battled Daniel Hall of Vincennes to a first set tie-break win, 7-4, before capturing the second set 6-1.
Kirstein's road to the championship was a little longer as the sophomore needed four wins to secure his crown. After losing his opening-round match, Kirstein won his night two contests in straight sets. He was pushed to three sets against Brian Starr of Xavier in the consolation semifinal but pulled off an 11-9 third set win to set up a championship matchup against Philip Diaz of Xavier. Kirstein made quick work of him (6-3, 6-2) to collect his second consolation title of the fall.
In other singles action, three Golden Eagles competed in the singles "A" bracket as Alex Chen and Josh Girling finished 1-1 and Oscar Pachon made it to the consolation semifinals with a 2-2 record. In the singles "B" bracket, Lloyd Harris and Nick Stafford both finished 1-1 while Mario Guterriez went 0-2.
In doubles competition, Doropoulos/Harris paired to capture the doubles "C" title after winning three straight matches. They made quick work of their first two opponents, winning 8-1 and 8-2, before taking down Shafik/Milovanovik of Morehead State, 8-5, in the championship match.
Girling/Stafford teamed and won their first two matches to advance to the doubles "A" semifinal before falling to Donaldson/Gupta of Louisville. Chen/Pachon also paired and went 1-1 in the doubles "A" bracket. One other TTU team competed as Guterriez/Kirstein went 0-2 in the doubles "B" tournament.
The Golden Eagles men's tennis team will return to action this weekend at the ITA Ohio Valley Regional.
