FLUSHING, N.Y. – For the first time since the 2016 ITA East Regional Championship Tournament, the Queens College men's tennis team will have individuals competing for the East Region crown on Day 5 of the tournament at the USTA National Tennis Center.
On the singles side, #2 seed sophomore
Cameron Henricy (Las Palmas, Spain) has advanced to the championship match since Lucas Martinez advanced to the finals in 2016.
While on the doubles side, the #2 pair of graduate student
Moritz Borges (Hunxe, Germany) / junior
Roni Rikkonen (Tampere, Finland) will battle for the doubles crown.
Henricy will be looking to become the first Knight to win the East Region crown, while Borges/Rikkonen are looking to become the third pair from Queens College to win the East crown since Sharvill Nawghre and Roman Laga won the crown in 2016.
Singles Tournament
10 Knights started the singles tournament while Henricy, #5 senior
Kareem Rashad (Alexandria, Egypt), and unseeded sophomore
Philipp Uhde (Heidelberg, Germany) advanced to the quarterfinals round.
Henricy battled through top players from Southern New Hampshire, Le Moyne and Chestnut Hill, and his fellow teammate to advance to the final match.
The sophomore started the tournament with a victory against SNHU Cade Nadeau with a 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 victory in the round of 64. He would defeat #21 Le Moyne Kacper Piekarek to the score of 6-3, 6-4 in the round of 32 before he dispatched #10 Chestnut Hill Tom Pitchley 6-4, 7-6 (8-6) to set up a quarterfinal match up against fellow teammate Uhde.
The sophomore would earn a 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 before Uhde to advance to the semi-final round.
In the semi-final, Henricy defeated #30 Le Moyne Ethan Miller in straight sets to the score of 6-3, 6-3 to advance to the championship match.
Henricy will have to defeat 2021 runner-up SNHU Jonathan Berling in the finals to advance to the ITA Nationals which will be held in Rome, Georgia from October 12 to October 16.
Berling advanced to the finals defeating Queens #19 junior
Francisco Gonzalez (La Plata, Argentina) (Round of 32), #8 St. Thomas Aquinas Tobias Fuerschuss (Round of 16), Rashad (Quarterfinals), #18 Peter Hatton (Semi-Final).
The Championship match will begin at 1:00 p.m. at the USTA National Tennis Center.
Doubles Tournament
Five Knights pairs started the tournament beginning in the Round of 64, while Queens saw five pairs advance to the Round of 32, four pairs in the Round of 16, three pairs in the Quarterfinals, and two pairs in the semi-finals.
The #2 pair of Borges/Rikkonen outlasted the Assumption pair of Brady Ryan/Lucas Caira (Round of 32), #12 Adelphi pair of Thiago Negrao/Thomas Horsley (Round of 16), #15 Dominican pair of Guilherme Salim/Marcos Lee (Quarterfinals), and #4 STAC Tobias Fuerschuss/Dom Lominoque.
As the tournament advanced, the doubles championship match looked to be headed towards an-All Queens affair as the Knights had the most pairs remaining throughout the tournament.
Borges/Rikkonen will have to dethrone 2021 East Region Doubles Champions and #3 seed SNHU Berling/Fernando Torres who advanced to finals for the second straight season to advance to the ITA Nationals which will be held in Rome, Georgia from October 12 to October 16.
The SNHU pair defeated Queens #5 seed Henricy/Rashad in the Quarterfinals before emerging victorious over the Knights' #10 duo of seniors
Mariano Bibiloni (La Plata, Argentina) / Lucas Demuth (Buenos Aires, Argentina) in the semi-final to the score of 6-4, 6-4.
The Doubles Championship match will start at 10:00 a.m.
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