Men's Tennis | 9/11/2021 7:19:00 AM

SCHENECTADY, N.Y. - Despite competing against only Division I competition in the season-opening Siena Invitational, the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men's tennis team enjoyed a strong first day of singles as seven student-athletes advanced to the semifinals and remain alive. The tournament, which also includes doubles, though those results were not available, concludes on Saturday at Central Park.

Rensselaer's Emilio Van Cotthem and Aiden Drover-Mattinen, both freshmen, will play in the A Flight semifinals. Van Cotthem defeated opponents from Siena, 8-7 (6), and St. Francis Brooklyn, 8-7 (3), and will face Manuel Alonso of Niagara at noon. Also competing at noon is Drover-Mattinen, who will take on Jan Godfrey Seno of St. Francis. Drover-Mattinen won his first two matches by scores of 8-5 and 8-2 against foes from St. Francis and Rider, respectively.

The B Flight semifinals also features a pair from the Engineers in Yudai Teruyama and Abraham Yohannes. They will play one another at 11am on Saturday. Teruyama, a junior, won 8-7 (7) against an opponent from Niagara and 8-6 against a foe from St. Francis, while Yohannes defeated an opponent from Siena (8-3) following a first round walk-over. 

Bryce Burnham and Jonathan McMillan, another pair of freshmen, both reached the semifinals of the C Flight. Burnham had a walk-over in his first round and then posted an 8-1 win over a foe from Rider. He will take on Matheus Paiva of St. Francis at 11am. McMillan, who will also play at 11am, faces Mathis Tremblay of Siena. McMillan beat student-athletes from Niagara and St. Francis by identical 8-4 scores in the first two rounds.

Senior Eddie Wu is in the D Flight semis after a walk-over in the first round and an 8-7 (2) win over a player from Siena. He faces Jakob Naylor of St. Francis at noon on Saturday. Naylor defeated RPI's Cameron Yang 8-7 (2) in the second round.