KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – On the opening day of the ITA Ohio Valley Regional, the Purdue men's tennis team sent four entries into the second round.
A trio of Boilermakers advanced to the second round of the singles flight. Athell Bennett, in his first regional since taking runner-up honors in 2019, cruised to a 6-3, 6-3 win over Danilo Kovacevic of Ball State. The No. 9 seed will play Michael Dickson from Butler in the second round.
Freshman duo Julen Morgan and Gabriele Brancatelli punched their tickets into the second round. Brancatelli blew by Brandon Pnomarew of Northern Kentucky in straight sets 6-1, 6-1 to set up a matchup with the other No. 9 seed Joubert Klopper from Vanderbilt.
Morgan rallied from a set down to beat Tom Berry from Wright State. The Miami native will take on Tennessee's Shunsuke Mitsui on Friday.
Milledge Cossu, Rohan Sachdev, Piotr Galus and Tomasz Dudek fell into the consolation bracket that opens Friday.
In doubles, the Boilermakers sent one team through to the second round. Bennett and Galus claimed an 8-2 win as a No. 9 seed over Stepan Holis and John Chin from Middle Tennessee State. The tandem will face Carson Haksins and Luka Vukovic in the second round on Friday.
The doubles teams of Sachdev/Dudek and Brancatelli/Cossu moved into the consolation draw.
SINGLES R128
Athell Bennett (PUR) def. Danilo Kovacevic (BSU) – 6-3, 6-3
Gabriele Brancatelli (PUR) def. Brandon Ponomarew (NKU) – 6-1, 6-1
Julen Morgan (PUR) def. Tom Berry (WSU) – 2-6, 6-3, 6-1
Tomas Luis (BEL) def. Milledge Cossu (PUR) – 6-4, 6-3
Tomas Rodriguez (UTC) def. Rohan Sachdev (PUR) – 6-1, 7-5
Conor Gannon (UT) def. Piotr Galus (PUR) – 6-0, 7-6(4)
Taisei Miyamoto (BEL) def. Tomasz Dudek (PUR) – 6-2, 7-6(5)
DOUBLES
Athell Bennett/Piotr Galus (PUR) def. Stepan Holis/John Chin (MTSU) – 8-2
Joshua Lapadat/JJ Mercer (UK) def. Rohan Sachdev/Tomasz Dudek (PUR) - 8-3
Diego Castro/Tomas Luis (BEL) def. Milledge Cossu/Gabriele Brancatelli (PUR) – 8-5