HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. – The Fairleigh Dickinson men's tennis team won a singles and doubles flight and earned a consolation flight victory in the final day of the Hofstra Invitational Saturday.
 
The FDU doubles team of sophomore Mehdi Dhouib and junior Eduardo Cabral won the B Flight of doubles to start the Knights' day, and junior Youssef Sader continued his impressive singles run by capturing the D Flight title to cap off the two-day tournament.
 
Dhouib and Cabral first overcame a Hofstra duo, 6-4, in the semifinal of their doubles flight, and the pair then repeated their score in the final against a Siena duo to earn the title.
 
Only playing in singles, Sader started his day with a 6-2, 6-2 straight set win over Yusuke Nishitani of Hofstra. He met his teammate, junior Maciej Autuch, in the final after Autuch dispatched Hofstra's Jonathan Mahrt 6-3, 2-6, 10-4 in a compelling semifinal battle. The two Knight teammates then played an epic duel in the final, with Sader finishing on top 6-4, 3-6, 14-12 after a back-and-forth tiebreaker.
 
Sader is now 8-0 in singles play this fall, while Autuch is 7-1 with his only loss coming against his teammate.
 
Freshman Teodors Pukse also earned two victories for the Knights in the consolation ladder of the A Flight. He first overcame Queens' Kareen Rashad, 8-4, in his semifinal match before defeating St. Francis Brooklyn's Facundo Couso, 8-4, to end his day.
 
Junior Moric Budinszky earned a consolation victory as well, winning 8-0 over David Robres of Adelphi. He then fell in the consolation final to St. John's Dylan Loru, 8-1.
 
Junior Andris Gudins played a close semifinal singles match in the C Flight but ultimately could not rally toward the end in a 4-6, 5-7 loss to Hofstra's Ostap Kovalenko. Senior Ivan Solans Diaz and redshirt junior Niclas Pietsch also were defeated in their singles semifinals matches.
 
The Knights concluded the weekend with a 20-9 record in singles play and a 6-3 mark in doubles play.
 
FDU returns to action next weekend, traveling to Annapolis, Md., to play in the Navy Invitational beginning Friday, September 27, and continuing through Sunday, September 29.
 
DAY TWO BOX SCORE
 
B FLIGHT DOUBLES
Semfinal: Mehdi Dhouib/Eduardo Cabral (FDU) def. Ostap Kovalenko/Jonathan Mahrt (Hofstra), 6-4
Final: Dhouib/Cabral (FDU) def. Cameron Kirkwood/Alexandros Giannakitsidis (Siena), 6-4
 
A FLIGHT SINGLES
Con. Semfinal: Teodors Pukse (FDU) def. Kareem Rashad (Queens), 8-4
Con. Final: Pukse (FDU) def. Facundo Couso (SFC), 8-4
 
B FLIGHT SINGLES
Semifinal: Charlie James (St. John's) def. Ivan Solans Diaz (FDU), 6-2, 6-1
Con. Semifinal: Moric Budinszky (FDU) def. David Robres (Adelphi), 8-0
Con. Final: Dylan Loru (St. John's) def. Budinszky (FDU), 8-1
 
C FLIGHT SINGLES
Semifinal: Udayan Bhakar (St. John's) def. Niclas Pietsch (FDU), 6-2, 6-4
Semifinal: Kovalenko (Hofstra) def. Andris Gudins (FDU), 6-4, 7-5
 
D FLIGHT SINGLES
Semifinal: Maciej Autuch (FDU) def. Mahrt (Hofstra), 6-3, 2-6, 10-4
Semifinal: Youssef Sader (FDU) def. Yusuke Nishitani (Hofstra), 6-2, 6-2
Final: Sader (FDU) def. Autuch (FDU), 6-4, 3-6, 14-12
 

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DAY ONE RECAP

The Fairleigh Dickinson men's tennis team concluded the first day of competition at the Hofstra Invitational Friday, earning victories in both singles and doubles play.

In singles, seven Knights won their first matches in the main draw, advancing five others to the quarterfinals.

Mehdi Dhouib earned his first singles victory of the day after advancing by walkover. He then fell to St. John's 8-4 in the ensuing match. Teodors Pukse was defeated by his SFC opponent in the opening round but competed well in the consolation round, trouncing Adelphi 8-2 to round out the A draw.

Niclas Pietsch defeated his first two opponents of the day in Adelphi (8-5) and Hofstra (8-4) to advance to tomorrow's quarterfinal matchup. B draw success continued for the Burgundy and Blue as teammate Andris Gudins followed with two consecutive victories of his own, first defeating an Adelphi adversary 8-4 and then St. John's 8-5.

Ivan Solans Diaz and Andrei Oprisor each won their opening matches in the C Draw. Solans Diaz defeated Siena 8-4 while Oprisor was victorious with an 8-6 win over SFC. Although Solans Diaz advanced to the quarterfinals after beating his Siena foe 8-4 in the following round, Oprisor fell to Hofstra 8-1. Moric Budinszky lost his opening match 8-7 but finished strong in consolation play, defeating his SFC opponent 8-2.

Rounding out singles play in the D draw were Maciej Autuch and Youssef Sader. Autuch finished the day with two straight victories, defeating Adelphi 8-4 and SFC 8-5 to continue FDU's singles success on the day. Sader matched Autuch's intensity, defeating his first opponent 8-3 and securing a victory in the following match with an 8-4 win against Siena.

A flight doubles began with a 6-2 victory over Queens from pair Andris Gudins and Teodors Pukse; however, they lost in the next round to Adelphi, 7-6. Niclas Pietsch and Ivan Solans Diaz had similar luck, defeating Siena 6-1 in the first round but later falling to their Queens opponents, 6-4.

Completing doubles play in the B draw were teammates Maciej Autuch and Moric Budinszky who won their first match of the day against Adelphi, 6-3 but lost the next match 7-6 to SFC. Concluding the day was pair Mehdi Dhouib and Eduardo Cabral who won their only match of the day, claiming victory over Adelphi 7-6 after meeting them in the second round following a first-round bye.

Check back here at FDUKnights.com for updated results after Saturday's competition.

DAY ONE SCORES

A SINGLES DRAW
Mehdi Dhouib (FDU) def. Mortiz Borges (Queens) ,by walkover
Ignacio Garcia (St. John's) def. Dhouib (FDU), 8-4
Pau Grabuleda (SFC) def. Teodors Pukse (FDU), 8-6
Pukse (FDU) def. Henrique Souza (Adelphi), 8-2

B SINGLES DRAW
Niclas Pietsch (FDU) def. Sabin Saveluc (Adelphi), 8-5
Pietsch (FDU) def. Giacomo Pezzoli (Hofstra), 8-4
Andris Gudins (FDU) def. Luke Stirling (Adelphi)., 8-4
Gudins (FDU) def. Igor Maslov (St. John's), 8-5

C SINGLES DRAW
Lucas Demuth (Queens) def. Moric Budinszky (FDU), 8-7
Budinszky (FDU) def. Stefan Gmijovic (SFC), 8-2
Ivan Solans Diaz (FDU) def. Tim Cecere (SFC), 8-0
Solans Diaz (FDU) def. Matt Bellino (Siena), 8-4
Andrei Oprisor (FDU) def. Tomas Dirube (SFC), 8-6
Jun Sasagawa (Hofstra) def. Oprisor (FDU), 8-1

D SINGLES DRAW
Maciej Autuch (FDU) def. Valentine Le Goupil-Maier (Adelphi), 8-4
Autuch (FDU) def. Dennis Felipe Sanchez (SFC), 8-5
Youssef Sader (FDU) def. Grant Louis (SFC), 8-3
Sader (FDU) def. Alexander Giannakitsidis (Siena), 8-4

A DOUBLES DRAW
Andris Gudins/Teodors Pukse (FDU) def. Nick Volos/Hugo Evangelista (Queens), 6-2
David Robres/Luke Stirling (Adelphi) def. Gudins/Pukse (FDU), 7-6
Niclas Pietsch/Ivan Solans Diaz (FDU) def. Matt Bellino/Muhammad Sawani (Siena), 6-1
Kareem Rashad/Mariano Biblioni (Queens) def. Pietsch/Solans Diaz (FDU), 6-4

B DOUBLES DRAW
Maciej Autuch/Moric Budinszky (FDU) def. David Leader/Andrew Ray (Adelphi), 6-3
Facundo Couso/Stefan Gmijovic (SFC) def. Autuch/Budinszky (FDU), 7-6
Mehdi Dhouib/Eduardo Cabral (FDU) def. Henrique Souza/Valentine Le Goupil-Majer (Adelphi), 7-6