Men's Tennis | 10/9/2016 9:19:00 PM

STATESBORO, Ga. - The Georgia Southern men's tennis team opened up the fall season this past weekend at the Mercer Gridiron Classic. The Eagles played in four separate singles draws, where seven of the eight Eagles advanced to the quarterfinals of their respective brackets. The Eagles would finish the weekend winning two of the draws.
 
Also competing in the tournament were Mercer, Troy, Florida Southern, Alabama State, Georgia State, Middle Georgia, Berry, Point, East Carolina, and Georgia College.
 
"This weekend we had a great opportunity to play a lot of matches" said assistant coach Adam Taylor. "We were able to learn about our players and also come out winning two of our draws."

SINGLES RESULTS:
 
Dani Casablancas
Qualifying, Niculescu (Troy) def. Casablancas 6-4, 6-2
Consolation, Slivonik (Florida Southern) def. Casablancas 6-3, 6-1

JC Alcala
Qualifying, BYE
Round of 16, Guillon (Mercer) def. JC Alcala 7-6, 5-7, 10-5
Consolation, Alcala def. Siyyid (Point) 6-1, 6-1
Consolation, Alcala def. Lundberg (Florida Southern) 6-0, 6-1

Eddie Landin
Qualifying, Landin def. Blakely (Berry) 6-0, 6-4
Round of 16, Ecenarro (Georgia College) def. Landin 6-1, 6-3
Consolation, Niculescu (Troy) def. Landin 7-5, 0-6, 10-6

Santiago Suarez
Qualifying, BYE
Round of 16, Conesa (Middle Georgia) def. Suarez 6-4, 5-7, 12-10
Consolation, Suarez def. Blakely (Berry) 6-0, 6-2
Consolation, Suarez def. Bucknam (Florida Southern) 6-3, 6-2
 
"I had good communication with my partner and with us just playing point by point led us to the title this weekend." said freshman Santiago Suarez.

Diego Finkelstein
Qualifying, BYE
Round of 16, Tsiranidis (Mercer) def. Finkelstein 6-2, 1-6, 11-9
Consolation, Finkelstein def. Waern (Georgia College) 6-1, 7-5
Consolation, Finkelstein def. Atin (Point) 6-1, 6-2

Artemie Amari
Qualifying, Amari def. Skvorc (Alabama St.) 6-3, 6-1
Round of 16, Sharma (Georgia St.) def. Amari 3-6, 6-3, 10-8
Consolation, Amari def. Bedwan (Troy) 6-4, 1-6, 13-11
 
"I hope with the hard work that I have put in this semester that this will be first of many successful tournaments." said junior Artemie Amari.

Murphy McCollough
Qualifying, BYE
Round of 16, McCollough def. Connelly (Georgia College) 6-1, 6-0
Quarterfinals, McCollough def. Brown (Georgia Southern) 6-4, 6-1
Semifinals, McCollough def. Horvat (Georgia St.) 7-6, 6-1
Finals, McCollough def. Racine (Troy) 6-1, 6-1
 
"I am happy with the way things went for me and the team this weekend. Hopefully we can build off of it and get ready for the next tournament." said freshman Murphy McCullough
 
Adam Brown
Qualifying, BYE
Round of 16, Brown def. Perret (Middle Georgia) 6-1, 2-6, 10-4
Quarterfinals, McCollough (Georgia Southern) def. Brown 6-4, 6-1
Consolation, Brown def. Wilson (Florida Southern) 6-1, 6-1
Consolation, Brown def. Fried (Mercer) 7-6, 6-4

DOUBLES RESULTS:
 
Casablancas/Finkelstein
Qualifying, Casablancas/Finkelstein def. Tamola/Conesa (Middle Georgia) 6-1
Quarterfinals, Hussey/Sharma (Georgia St.) def. Casablanas/Finkelstein 6-4
Consolation, Casablancas/Finkelstein def. Fried/Khurana (Mercer) 6-4
 
Alcala/Landin
Qualifying, Alcala/Landin def. Siyyid/Hewett (Point) 7-5
Quarterfinals, Alcala/Landin def. Duan/Racine (Troy) 7-5
 
Brown/McCollough
Qualifying, Brown/McCollough def. Otero/Clayton (Middle Georgia) 7-5
Quarterfinals, Stuart/Tsiranidis (Mercer) def. Brown/McCollough 6-3
 
Suarez/Amari
Qualifying, Suarez/Amari def. Putztay/Trajkovsky (Alabama St.) 6-2
Quarterfinals, Suarez/Amari def. Soderlund/Miller (Florida Southern) 6-1
Finals, Suarez/Amari def. Stuart/Tsiranidis (Mercer) Default
Consolation, Suarez/Amari def. Bedwan/Belcora (Troy) 6-4