Kolachuk Chuenpratum scored convincing wins in singles and doubles for CSI.
The College of Staten Island men’s tennis squad used their home opener to score their first victory of the 2013 campaign, scoring a 9-0 win over visiting Hunter College at the CSI Tennis Center this afternoon. On the cold and windy day, the Dolphins upped their overall record to 1-5 and CUNYAC mark to 1-0, while for Hunter, the team opens its season both 0-1 overall and in the conference.
CSI was crisp from start to finish, earning three doubles wins in under an hour to take a 3-0 lead after doubles. The No. 3 duo of Austin Kapetanakis and Kolachuk Chuenpratum was the first team to earn a win, scoring an 8-3 winner over HC’s Kevin Wang and Paul Saint-Donat. A few beats later, CSI’s top team of Nicholas Zikos and Hector Molina were victorious by an 8-2 count over HC’s top duo of Damen Ellington and Binh Luu. CSI had a tougher time in the second position, but eventually the CSI team of Timur Shamuradov and Daniel Ursomanno got by Hunter’s David Joseph and Daniel Rabinovich, who play Nos. 1 & 3 singles, by a final score of 8-4.
The Dolphins were able to officially clinch the match with a couple of lop-sided wins on the singles side. No. 6 Singles player Ed Ruffe was the first to come off, defeating Wang, 6-2, 6-0. Moments later CSI’s Ursomanno, in the No. 4 position, scored the decisive fifth point via a 6-0, 6-0, win over Saint-Donat. After battling through a hand laceration at the top of the second set, No. 5 Singles player Chuenpratum rebounded to score a 6-2, 6-2, winner over Luu.
The remaining three matches, at Nos. 1-3 Singles, were all heavily contested. Molina at No. 2 and Shamuradov at No. 3 both needed a seventh point in a set to win their matches in straight sets, and in the top-spot, Zikos outlasted Joseph in three sets, 6-3, 4-6, 10-7, insuring the shutout.
CSI will next take on the City College of New York as part of CUNYAC play on Friday, March 22, at the National Tennis Center in Flushing, NY.
