WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - A young Purdue team dropped a 3-4 decision in Monday's opener against Dayton.
Mujtaba Ali-Khan was the first of the three Boilermakers to secure wins on the day. The sophomore cruised to a straight set victory allowing just one game in the second set.
Stefan Simeunovic picked up from where he left off in the fall, fighting his way to a straight set victory after a nail-biting 7-6(2) super tiebreak win in the final set. Fellow newcomer Marino Jakic went game-for-game with Dayton's Matt DeMarco. His first match wasn't an easy one as he took the advantage 7-6(9) in the first set and closed the dual out with a 7-5 edge to win in straight sets.
A trio of new doubles teams nearly pulled out a highly contested doubles point. After going down 2-5 at No. 2 and 3, Alexander Ekstrand/Aleksa Krivokapic and Stefan Simeunovic/Soham Purohit knotted each match at five. Despite the impressive rally, Dayton came up with a 6-4 win at No. 1 and clinched the point with a 7-5 win over Ekstrand/Krivokapic.
Up Next
The Boilermakers head to the Pacific Northwest as they take on Oregon and Portland this Friday, Jan. 19, and Saturday, Jan. 20.
Purdue (0-1)- 3, Dayton (1-1)- 4
SINGLES
1. No. 81 Connor Bruce (DAY) def. Aleksa Krivokapic (PUR)- 6-3, 6-4
2. Marino Jakic (PUR) def. Matt DeMarco (DAY)- 7-6(9), 7-5
3. Stefan Simeunovic (PUR) def. Kyle McNally (DAY)- 6-3, 7-6(2)
4. No. 113 Luis Saraiva (DAY) def. Juan David Velasquez (PUR)- 6-4, 6-3
5. Mikkel Zinder (DAY) def. Soham Purohit (PUR)- 7-5, 6-3
6. Mujtaba Ali-Khan (PUR) def. Eric Perkowski (DAY)- 6-3, 6-1
DOUBLES
1. Connor Bruce/Nikola Puric (DAY) def. Juan David Velasquez/Marino Jakic (PUR)- 6-4
2. Mikkel Zinder/Eric Perkowski (DAY) def. Alexander Ekstrand/Aleksa Krivokapic (PUR)- 7-5
3. Matt DeMarco/Ronit Hiryur (DAY) vs. Stefan Simeunovic/Soham Purohit (PUR)- 6-5 (Unfinished)
ORDER OF FINISH
Singles- 1, 6, 4, 5, 3, 2
Doubles- 1, 2, 3 (Unfinished)