The Middlebury Invitational has come to an end with the host school boasting five champions out of six flights on Sunday. Matches were contested outdoors at the Proctor Tennis Courts and indoors on the Nelson Recreation Center courts on the Middlebury campus. The team will return to action Friday, September 30 through Sunday, October 2 when it participates in the ITA Regional Championships hosted by Williams.
In the 'A' singles flight, all four Panthers advanced to the quarterfinal round. A finalist for third-straight year, top-seeded Noah Farrell grabbed his second-consecutive title when he defeated #2 seed Kei Yuen Leung of Skidmore in the championship match (7-5, 6-1). Hamid Derbani picked up a pair of victories before falling to Farrell in the semifinals. Lubomir Cuba also moved into the semifinal round before being edged by Leung by scores of 7-5, 7-6 (3). The fourth Middlebury participant, William de Quant, won his first match in the draw.
Middlebury's Timo van der Geest was victorious in the 'B' singles championship. On Saturday, van der Geest knocked off top-seeded Brian Granoff of Brandeis and RPI's Tristan Wise. In Sunday's play, van der Geest edged Tufts' Ethan Chen before picking up the title with a 6-3, 6-3 triumph over teammate Alex Vanezis in the final.
Also taking part in the 'B' flight were Kyle Schlanger, who lost in the semifinal to Vanezis, and Allen Jackson who lost in the quarterfinals to Chen.
First-year Panther Weston Brach secured the 'C' flight. The third-seeded Brach needed three sets to win his opening match before winning his quarterfinal match in straight sets. On Sunday, he bested Zach Shaff of Tufts in three sets during the semifinals and won the opening set over Skidmore's JT Winne before the Thoroughbred was forced to retire due to injury.
Peter Martin and Aleksandr Samets also represented Middlebury in the 'C' draw, both winning their first match before losing in the quarterfinals.
The Middlebury pair comprised of Derbani and Schlanger were victorious in the 'A' doubles bracket with an 8-5 victory over Josh Quijano and Nick Glover from Bates.
The 'B' doubles flight featured two Panther duos who produced solid outcomes. In Sunday's final, the top-seeded Panther team of van der Geest and Jackson edged Brandeis' Tyler Ng and David Aizenberg, 8-6. The pairing of Cole Sutton and Venezis won their first match over #2 seed Sundar Devakottai and Xavier Oshinowo of RPI before falling in the quarterfinals.
