MADISON, NJ – The University of Rochester men's tennis team earned six singles victories on day one of the ITA Northeast Regional Championships on Friday, with two individuals making the third round of play at Drew University.
 
Senior Krish Vennam and junior Kavin Shukla each posted a pair of straight set victories to reach the round of 16 in the 64-player draw at regionals.
 
In the opening round, four of Rochester's five singles entrants were winners. Shukla won 6-1, 6-1 over Griffin Forberg from Manhattanville, while Vennam topped NYU's Zachary Freier 6-2, 6-0.
 
Others in the singles draw earning wins were first-year's Andy Liu and Alan Wang. Liu won 6-2, 6-3 against St. Lawrence's Broderick Pinto, with Wang posting a three-set win over Ivan Kisic of Ithaca, 7-5, 4-6, 10-4.
 
During round two, Shukla squared off with Hyat Oyer of Hobart and earned another impressive victory, winning 6-3, 6-1. In the third round he will face RPI's Tasmay Shah, with a spot in the quarterfinals on the line.
 
Vennam topped James Balon from Vassar in his second round matchup, also winning in straight sets, with the score going 7-6 (1), 6-4. During his next matchup, Vennam takes on fourth-seeded Andy Zhu from RPI.
 
Liu's second round opponent was second-seeded Connor Griff of Hamilton College, with the higher-seeded Griff coming away with a 6-2, 6-2 victory to eliminate Liu from the tournament.
 
In his second match, Wang again went to three sets, falling by a narrow 5-7, 6-4, 8-10 score to St. Lawrence's Edvin Strandberg.
 
UR's fifth singles entry was Rahul Ravi who drew a tough opening round matchup in third-seeded Boren Zheng of NYU. Zheng earned the win, posting back-to-back 6-3 scores to advance.
 
Rochester did not see as much success in doubles play, as both teams entered in the bracket were upended in the opening round.
 
The team of Ravi and Chu fell 8-5 against Anson Anderson and Tarun Korwar of Hamilton. Meanwhile, Ethan Samora and Wang were defeated by Pinto and Jake David from St. Lawrence by that same 8-5 score.
 
Action continues on day two starting in the morning with the singles round of 16 matches, including Vennam and Shukla's next matches.