MERION STATION, Pa.—The first day of play is complete at the Saint Joseph's Invitational and Villanova had four players advance to the second round in their respective singles draws at the SJU Tennis Complex on Friday afternoon. Including the four winners in the first round and four other players who had a bye, the Wildcats enter action on Saturday with eight of its team members set to play second round singles matches. The second round is expected to start around 9:30 a.m. on Saturday morning at the Maguire and Finnesey Courts on the Hawks campus.
 
In the Flight 2 singles bracket freshman Trey Fourticq (Los Angeles, Calif.) scored a 6-2, 3-6, 10-4 victory over Nassim Fenjiro from host Saint Joseph's to move on in the bracket. He is the lone Villanova player to advance to the second round in either of the top two singles flights. Fourticq next faces Pierce Gilheany from Delaware in the second round on Saturday morning. Gilheany is the second seed in the Flight 2 draw and notched a straight-sets win over an opponent from Jefferson on Friday in the first round.
 
Sophomore Eitan Khromchenko (Manalapan, N.J.) is the number two seed in the Flight 3 singles draw and he advanced to the second round with a comfortable 6-3, 6-3 victory over Enrique Soto Ballester of Jefferson. Khromchenko moves on to take on Xandy Hammitt from Drexel in his next match. Hammitt was a 6-2, 6-4 winner in his first round match over a player from NJIT.
 
Two players from the Wildcats won their first round matches in the Flight 4 singles draw and four others had byes into Saturday's second round. Junior Will Gatti (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and sophomore Noah Winton (Columbia, Mo.) tallied the two victories over opponents from Lehigh, with Gatti impressively rallying past Steven Nazaroff for a 6-7 (4), 6-3, 10-8 decision. He will play Alex MacNeil from the Hawks on Saturday morning in a match slated to begin at 8:30 a.m. Winton was a 6-3, 6-3 winner over Andrew Nakhjavan and next faces Djordje Janackovic of Drexel in the second round.
 
The four Villanova players who have not appeared yet are junior Daniel Cheng (Los Angeles, Calif.), junior Alex Kim (Cary, N.C.), sophomore Ryan Nguyen (Oakton, Va.) and sophomore Anthony Prokurat (Manalapan, N.J.). They each had a bye in the first round of the Flight 4 singles draw and will get underway in the second round at 9:30 on Saturday morning.
 
Sophomore Josh Robinson (Potomac, Md.) had one of the tougher matchups of the day for the Wildcats and was matched up with the tournament's top overall seed, Nathan Perrone of Saint Joseph's, in the Flight 1 singles draw. Robinson pushed Perrone to the brink in the first set before ultimately falling in a 7-6 (1), 6-0 decision. Also playing fell on Friday was junior Justin Suarez (Manila, Philippines) who went to a third-set tiebreaker against Hubert Theriault of Jefferson before falling by a 6-3, 2-6, 10-7 final count. Suarez has seen four of his five singles matches this season go to a tiebreaker after splitting the first two sets.
 
In the Flight 1 doubles draw the team of senior Matthew Jones (Dallas, Texas) and Robinson tallied a 6-4 win over Pablo Perez Ramos and Josh Smith from NJIT. They will play against Nickolas Frisk and Alp Sentay from the host Hawks on Saturday in the second round. Jones and Robinson are now 13-5 in their careers as doubles partners.
 
The complete Villanova results from Friday's action and the first scheduled match for each Wildcats player on Saturday morning are listed below.
 
SAINT JOSEPH'S INVITATIONAL
SJU Tennis Complex
Merion Station, Pa.
September 24, 2021
 
FRIDAY RESULTS
 
Flight 1 Singles
Nathan Perrone (Saint Joseph's) defeated Josh Robinson (Villanova) 7-6 (1), 6-0
 
Flight 2 Singles
Hubert Theriault (Jefferson) defeated Justin Suarez (Villanova) 6-3, 2-6, 10-7
Trey Fourticq (Villanova) defeated Nassim Fenjiro (Saint Joseph's) 6-2, 3-6, 10-4
 
Flight 3 Singles
Gary Fishkin (Lehigh) defeated Matthew Jones (Villanova) 7-5, 6-0
Nicholas Gore (Delaware) defeated Lukas Choi (Villanova) 6-3, 6-4
Eitan Khromchenko (Villanova) defeated Enrique Soto Ballester (Saint Joseph's) 6-3, 6-3
 
Flight 4 Singles
Daniel Cheng (Villanova) BYE
Matthew Ray (Mary Washington) defeated Collin Klumb (Villanova) 6-3, 7-6 (4)
Will Gatti (Villanova) defeated Steven Nazaroff (Lehigh) 6-7 (4), 6-3, 10-8
Alex Kim (Villanova) BYE
Ryan Nguyen (Villanova) BYE
Noah Winton (Villanova) defeated Andrew Nakhjavan (Lehigh) 6-3, 6-3
Anthony Prokurat (Villanova) BYE
 
Flight 1 Doubles
Matthew Jones/Josh Robinson (Villanova) defeated Pablo Perez Ramos/Josh Smith (NJIT) 6-4
Nassim Fenjiro/Nathan Perrone (Saint Joseph's) defeated Alex Kim/Ryan Nguyen (Villanova) 6-2
 
Flight 2 Doubles
Martial Kawunde/Sebastian Lopez (Morgan State) defeated Will Gatti/Collin Klumb (Villanova) 6-2
Gary Fishkin/Andrew Nakhjavan (Lehigh) defeated Anthony Prokurat/Justin Suarez (Villanova) 6-4
Artis Hart/Matthew Ray (Mary Washington) defeated Lukas Choi/Noah Winton (Villanova) 6-2
Nicholas Gore/Liam Hedlund (Delaware) defeated Trey Fourticq/Eitan Khromchenko (Villanova) 6-4

SATURDAY SCHEDULE
 
Flight 2 Singles – Second Round
Trey Fourticq (Villanova) vs. Nassim Fenjiro (Saint Joseph's) 9:30 AM (Maguire)
 
Flight 3 Singles – Second Round
Eitan Khromchenko (Villanova) vs. Xandy Hammitt (Drexel) 9:30 AM (Maguire)
 
Flight 4 Singles – Second Round
Daniel Cheng (Villanova) vs. Andrew Cooper (Mary Washington) 8:30 AM (Finnesey)
Will Gatti (Villanova) vs. Alex MacNeil (Saint Joseph's) 8:30 AM (Finnesey)
Alex Kim (Villanova) vs. Cole Tecce (Mary Washington) 8:30 AM (Finnesey)
Ryan Nguyen (Villanova) vs. Artis Hart (Mary Washington) 9:30 AM (Finnesey)
Noah Winton (Villanova) vs. Djordje Janackovic (Drexel) 9:30 AM (Finnesey)
Anthony Prokurat (Villanova) vs. Nick Spera (Mary Washington) 9:30 AM (Finnesey)
 
Flight 1 Doubles – Second Round
Matthew Jones/Josh Robinson (Villanova) vs. Nickolas Frisk/Alp Sentay (Saint Joseph's) TBD
 
Flight 1 Singles – Consolation Draw
Josh Robinson (Villanova) vs. Moses Hutchison (Mary Washington)
 
Flight 2 Singles – Consolation Draw
Justin Suarez (Villanova) vs. Sanil Jagtiani (Drexel)
 
Flight 3 Singles – Consolation Draw
Matthew Jones (Villanova) vs. either Josh Smith (NJIT) OR Rhajzon Rankins (Morgan State)
Lukas Choi (Villanova) vs. Gustav Wogen (Drexel)
 
Flight 4 Singles – Consolation Draw
Collin Klumb (Villanova) vs. Jacob Marion (Jefferson)
 
Flight 1 Doubles – Consolation Draw
Alex Kim/Ryan Nguyen (Villanova) vs. Moses Hutchison/Andrew Watson (Mary Washington)
 
Flight 2 Doubles – Consolation Draw
Will Gatti/Collin Klumb (Villanova) vs. Eshan Kanetkar/Alex MacNeil (Saint Joseph's)
Anthony Prokurat/Justin Suarez (Villanova) vs. Ryan Meyer/Cole Tecce (Mary Washington)
Lukas Choi/Noah Winton (Villanova) vs. Juan Bejarano/Adrian Tudor (NJIT)
Trey Fourticq/Eitan Khromchenko (Villanova) vs. either Mario Antonio/Enrique Soto Ballester (Jefferson) OR Matvey Radionov/Gustav Wogen (Drexel)