RICHMOND, Va.—The first day of competition at the River City Tennis Open was highlighted by strong play in several of the singles flights and Villanova went 13-5 overall in competition at the Williams-Bollettieri Tennis Center on Friday afternoon. Nine players are competing for the Wildcats this weekend and five were double winners in their singles matches on Friday, including senior Matthew Jones (Dallas, Texas), junior Alex Kim (Cary, N.C.) and the sophomore trio of Eitan Khromchenko (Manalapan, N.J.), Ryan Nguyen (Oakton, Va.) and Noah Winton (Columbia, Mo.).
 
The goal of the River City Tennis Open is to provide a first-class college tennis event in Richmond while providing charitable gifts to local youths in the Metro Richmond area. This year's tournament consists of 22 singles flights and 11 doubles draws with players from several east coast schools. Most of the singles flights have four players and consist of round-robin competition to start, with the majority of players competing in their first two singles matches on Friday morning and afternoon.
 
Jones is competing in Flight 16 and posted straight-set wins over opponents from George Mason and Navy by identical scores of 6-2, 6-3. He began the day with a victory over Ryan Charles from the Patriots and later posted a win over Cy McLeod from the Midshipmen.
 
There were exciting wins by Khromchenko in Flight 14 and Kim in Flight 19 during Friday's competition. Khromchenko outlasted Mathieu Josserand from James Madison in a tiebreaker in his morning match to tally a 7-5, 3-6, 10-8 win before going on to defeat Carlos Grande from Georgetown later in the day in straight sets (6-4, 6-3). Kim opened the tournament with a 6-4, 6-1 decision over Erick Rivas from George Mason before going to a tiebreaker for a 6-4, 0-6, 10-7 victory over Ernesto Rocabert of Longwood.
 
Nguyen is playing in Flight 18 and he also began the day with a thriller to defeated Gray Voelzke of VCU in a 6-2, 4-6, 12-10 decision. He later defeated Karl Katlaps of Radford (6-2, 6-2) in his second win of the day. Winton is in Flight 21 and his matches on Friday included wins over Dustin Ha of George Mason by a 6-2, 7-6 (3) count and Chanasorn Nakaurai of George Mason by set scores of 6-1 and 6-1.
 
Three other Villanova players split their first two matches of the tournament. In Flight 6, sophomore Josh Robinson (Potomac, Md.) overcame a morning loss to Finn Garner of Navy (7-5, 7-5) to post a 6-1, 7-5 victory over Charlie Suh of Georgetown on Friday afternoon. Freshman Trey Fourticq (Los Angeles, Calif.) is in Flight 11 and tallied a 6-4, 6-4 win over Rithik Sardana of George Mason after earlier falling to Joseph Brailovsky of William & Mary (6-3, 7-5). In Flight 17, sophomore Anthony Prokurat (Manalapan, N.J.) was a 6-1, 6-1 winner over Herman Jentoft of George Mason after falling to Zac Larke from the College of Charleston (6-1, 6-4).
 
In doubles action on Friday the team of Suarez and Prokurat fell to Aditya Balsekar and Robert Hagen of Radford in a 6-2 result in the Pink Draw. Their next match is against Daniel Pellerito and Finbar Talcott from William & Mary. Nguyen and Kim opened play in the Teal Draw with a 6-3 loss to William Crane and Raphael Mujan from Radford before advancing over Jack Kelly and Sebastian Quiros of William & Mary in a default.
 
Fourticq and Khromchenko are underway in the Yellow Draw where they were defeated, 6-2, by Youssef Sadek and Josserand of James Madison. The final doubles team for the Wildcats, Jones and Robinson, had not yet played their first match in the Orange Draw.
 
Action continues at the River City Tennis Open on Saturday and Sunday.

 
RIVER CITY TENNIS OPEN
Collegiate School | Williams-Bollettieri Tennis Center
Richmond, Va.
October 8, 2021
 
FRIDAY RESULTS
 
Flight 6 Singles
Josh Robinson
Lost to Finn Garner (Navy): 7-5, 7-5
Defeated Charlie Suh (Georgetown): 6-1, 7-5
 
Flight 11 Singles
Trey Fourticq
Lost to Joseph Brailovsky (William & Mary): 6-3, 7-5
Defeated Rithik Sardana (George Mason): 6-4, 6-4
 
Flight 13 Singles
Justin Suarez
Lost to Robert Hagen (Radford): 5-7, 0-6
Lost to Jake Fishkin (Navy): 2-6, 2-6
 
Flight 14 Singles
Eitan Khromchenko
Defeated Mathieu Josserand (James Madison): 7-5, 3-6, 10-8
Defeated Carlos Grande (Georgetown): 6-4, 6-3
 
Flight 16 Singles
Matthew Jones
Defeated Ryan Charles (George Mason): 6-2, 6-3
Defeated Cy McLeod (Navy): 6-2, 6-3
 
Flight 17 Singles
Anthony Prokurat
Lost to Zac Larke (College of Charleston): 1-6, 4-6
Defeated Herman Jentoft (George Mason): 6-1, 6-1
 
Flight 18 Singles
Ryan Nguyen
Defeated Gray Voelzke (VCU): 6-2, 4-6, 12-10
Defeated Karl Katlaps (Radford): 6-2, 6-2
 
Flight 19 Singles
Alex Kim
Defeated Erick Rivas (George Mason): 6-4, 6-1
Defeated Ernesto Rocabert (Longwood): 6-4, 0-6, 10-7
 
Flight 21 Singles
Noah Winton
Defeated Dustin Ha (George Mason): 6-2, 7-6 (3)
Defeated Chanasorn Nakaurai (George Mason): 6-1, 6-1
 
Orange Draw Doubles
Matthew Jones/Josh Robinson
vs. Andres Silva/Demis Taramonlis (Radford): Not yet played
 
Yellow Draw Doubles
Trey Fourticq/Eitan Khromchenko
Lost to Youssef Sadek/Mathiew Josserand (James Madison): 6-2
 
Pink Draw Doubles
Justin Suarez/Anthony Prokurat
Lost to Aditya Balsekar/Robert Hagen (Radford): 6-2
vs. Daniel Pellerito/Finbar Talcott (William & Mary): Not yet played
 
Teal Draw Doubles
Ryan Nguyen/Alex Kim
Lost to William Crane/Raphael Mujan (Radford): 6-3
Advanced over Jack Kelly/Sebastian Quiros (William & Mary): Default