ORLANDO — The No. 23-ranked Southwestern men's tennis team played the top-ranked team in the nation on the first day of its trip to Florida, losing 9-0 to the Case Western Reserve University Spartans.
Fresh off a SCAC Doubles Team of the Week performance against LeTourneau in their first match together, Vesko Lekovic and Hemanshu Rambojun lost to the No. 6-ranked doubles team in the country, falling 8-3 to James Hopper and Jonathan Powell in No. 1 doubles.
Hunter Bajoit and Jared Burton dropped a competitive match against Vishwa Aduru and Sahil Dayal, losing 8-5 in the No. 2 spot.
"Hunter and Jared played right with them," Southwestern head tennis coach Billy Porter says. "Case Western broke at 5-6 and served it out with a strong game."
Chaitanya Aduru and Michael Sutanto closed the doubles sweep for Case Western, defeating Oscar Roy and Carlos Esteban Rodero 8-1 in No. 3 doubles.
Case Western showcased its depth in singles with three nationally-ranked players in the lineup. No. 25-ranked Bajoit played a well-fought three-set match against No. 6-ranked Hopper, losing 6-4, 0-6, 7-10 in No. 1 singles.
"Hunter went toe to toe with arguably the best player in the country," Porter says. "Just a couple of minor details were the difference of the match."
No. 32-ranked Aduru topped Southwestern's Lekovic 6-0, 6-0 in No. 2 singles. Anton Borovic lost 6-1, 6-0 to No. 10-ranked Shah in No. 2 singles. Steven Tibbetts was shut out 6-0, 6-0 in a loss to Sutanto. Powell bested Roy 6-1, 6-3 in No. 5 singles, and Aduru defeated Travis Rafferty 6-1, 6-1 in No. 6 singles.
"We played a good match, but Case had better margins on their shots, and I felt their shot tolerance was just better than ours," Porter says.
Southwestern drops to 2-4 this season. The Pirates will face No. 13-ranked Wesleyan tomorrow, followed by a match against No. 21-ranked Kenyon and Rhodes.
