The men's tennis team had its first competition of the season over the weekend, competing against many of the top squads in the region at the Middlebury Invitational. Bates, Middlebury, Skidmore, Trinity, Tufts and Wesleyan were all in attendance, each of which is nationally ranked. A young Brandeis squad was also competing without two of its veteran players - juniors Michael Secular (Bronx, N.Y./Plant (Fla.)) and Alec Siegel (Deerfield, Ill./Deerfield) are both studying abroad this semester.

The Judges faired best in doubles action, as two pairs of athletes advanced to the quarterfinals. In the "A" bracket, rookies Brian Granoff (Miami, Fla./Gulliver Prep) and Michael Arguello (Brentwood, Tenn./Brentwood) defeated a strong Trinity side composed of rookie Rutendo Matingo (Weston, Mass./Weston) and sophomore Aaron Segel (Needham, Mass./Needham). Matingo would go on to make it to the semifinals of the singles "B" bracket. Granoff and Arguello started strongly in their next match as well, but would eventually fall 8-6 to Bates seniors Ben Bogard (Lido Beach, N.Y./Long Beach) and Peter Yanofsky (Belmont, Mass./Belmont).

In the "B" doubles bracket, junior Ben Fine (Providence, R.I./Moses Brown School) and sophomore Kevin Dupont (No. Dighton, Mass./Coyle-Cassidy) took down Bates sophomores Cosmin Bardan (Bacau, Romania/Bacau) and Andrew Salvador (Portland, Ore./Catlin Gable School), 8-6. The duo lost 8-6 in the quarterfinals to one of the top teams in their bracket, Wesleyan juniors Alex Rachlin (Chicago, Ill./Francis W. Parker) and Charlie Seifer (Holmdel, N.J./Holmdel). Seifer would go on to reach the final of his singles bracket.

The highlight in the singles bracket for the Judges came from Granoff, who was able to take a set from Middlebury senior Brantner Jones (Winnetka, Ill./New Trier), one of the top players in the country. The rookie upset Jones 6-4 in the first set, before eventually falling 4-6, 6-2 (10-4).

The Judges are off until September 27-29, when both the men and women's squads will compete at the ITA Regionals. The women will compete at Williams, while the men will again be at Middlebury.