LEWISTON, Maine – The Brandeis University men's tennis team had three semifinal performances and one championship at the 2019 James Wallach Invitational at Bates College.

The Judges' winners were the doubles duo of sophomore Jeff Chen (Northfield, Ill./New Trier) and rookie Simon Kauppila (Chesterfield, Mo./Marquette H.S.) in the B flight. They defeated a duo from Trinity, 8-3, in the opening round, then took down a Bowdoin team in the quarterfinals, 8-6. After defeating a team from RPI, 8-5, in the semifinals, the Judges edged foes from Skidmore, 8-6, in the championship match.

Chen and Kauppila nearly met another Brandeis team in the 'B' finals, as sophomore Colt Tegtmeier (Madison, Wisc. / James Madison Memorial) and junior Rajan Vohra (Glen Head, N.Y./North Shore) also reached the semifinals. They defeated teams from Tufts, 8-6, and Bowdoin, 8-2, to make the semis. They extended the Skidmore opponents to a tiebreaker before ultimately falling, 8-7 (7-3).

Kauppila also had the Judges' best singles showing, reaching the semis of the 'D' flight. He rolled past Phoenix Tamaoki of RPI, 6-3, 6-0, in the first round and topped Jack Carroll of Bowdoin, 6-4, 6-3, in the quarters. In the semis, he met Sergiu Celemidachi of Skidmore and fell, 6-3, 6-3, but would avenge that loss in the doubles final.

Other first-round singles winners for the Judges were Chen, who defeated JT Wynne of Skidmore, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2, in the first round of the 'A' flight, and Tegtmeier, who outlasted Ben Powls of Colby, 6-4, 6-7 (8-10), 10-3, in the opening round of the 'C' flight.

The Judges wrap up their fall season on Oct. 19-20 at the Wesleyan Invitational.