Middlebury, Vt. – The Brandeis University men's tennis team opened its 2022-23 season at the Middlebury Invitational at Middlebury College. The Judges reached the semifinals in four different flights and had one finalist.

• Leading the way was senior Simon Kauppila (Chesterfield, Mo. / Marquette H.S.), who reached the finals of the 'B' singles flight. He needed a third-set super-tiebreaker to earn the win over the fourth seed from Middlebury.
• Kauppila had an easier time of it in the semifinals, knocking off Jan Wenger of Colby, 6-4, 6-3, before falling to Alex Ganchev of Tufts in the finals.
• Three of the team's singles players advanced to the second round of the 'C' bracket, with junior Aaron Basye (Mission Viejo, Calif. / Tesoro), senior Hunter Levine (Weston, Fla. / Cypress Bay), and first-year Haidyn Green (Washington, D.C. / Georgetown Day School) all moving on. Basye and Levine also made it to the semifinals, where both were knocked off. Levine had the most notable win overall, knocking off the top seed in the first round.
• In doubles action, Kauppila and Levine were the team's most successful tandem, reaching the semis of the 'A' flight.
• They defeated second-seeded Wenger and Cohen of Colby, 8-6, and Forester and Koide of Bates, 8-3, to reach the third round. Vuksanovic and Acaroglu of Colby kept them from the finals, 8-1.

UP NEXT

• The Judges head to Bowdoin College next weekend for the ITA New England Regional Championships.

FULL BRANDEIS RESULTS

'A' SINGLES

1^st Round

Dylan Walters l. (1) Aiden Drover-Mattinen (RPI), 6-2, 0-6, 11-9

Tommy Harrison l. Andy Zhu (RPI), 7-6 (8-6), 6-4

'B' SINGLES

1^st Round

Simon Kaupplia def. Andrej Djokic (Tufts), 2-6, 6-4, 10-8

Pony Liang l. Alex Ganchev (Tufts), 6-1, 6-2

2^nd Round

Kauppila def. (4) Zihao Yuan (Middlebury), 6-2, 6-4

Semifinals

Kauppila def. Jan Wenger (Colby), 6-4, 6-3

Finals

Kauppila l. Ganchev, 6-4, 6-0

'C' Singles

1^st Round

Hunter Levine def. James Bogdanovic (Colby), 6-3, 4-6, 10-5

(3) Haidyn Green def. Theo Sardain (Bates), 6-4, 6-3

Aaron Bayse def. Josh Kaplan (Colby), 6-0, 6-4

2^nd Round

Levine def. (1) Javier Gonzalez (Tufts), 3-6, 6-2, 10-6

Bayse def. Teddy Koide (Bates), 6-3, 7-5

Green l. Corey Marley (Tufts), 6-4, 1-6, 10-5

Semifinals

Levine l. Matthew Danielson (Bates), 7-6 (7-3), 6-1

Bayse l. Corey Marley (Tufts), 6-0, 6-4

'D' Singles

2^nd Round

(2) Aryan Nijhawan def. Nicky Desai (Bates), 6-1, 3-6, 10-6

Semifinals

NIjhawan l. Josh Fleishman (Colby), 0-6, 7-5, 10-8

'A' Doubles

1^st Round

Kauppila/Levine def. (2) Wenger/Cohen (Colby), 8-6

Walters/Harrison l. (4) Sharda/Ganchev (Tufts), 8-6

2^nd Round

Kauppila/Levine def. Forester/Koide (Bates), 8-3

Semifinals

Kauppila/Levine l. Vuksanovic/Acaroglu (Tufts), 8-1

'B' Doubles

1^st Round

Nijhawan/Alex Merson def. Jackson/Mueller (Middlebury), 8-7 (8-6)

2^nd Round

Nijhawan/Merson l. Burnham/McMillian (RPI), 8-4

(2) Green/Bayse l. MacIntosh/Marley (Tufts), 8-4