George Washington University

Sept. 23, 2011

WASHINGTON - The George Washington men's tennis team opened fall action Friday at tournaments in Virginia and New York, while the first day of the Georgetown Classic in Washington, D.C., was postponed due to rain.

At the UVA Ranked Plus One Tournament in Charlottesville, Va., senior Ugur Atalay and freshman Francisco Dias boasted impressive performances on the first day of action.

In doubles, Atalay and Dias fell to an early 4-1 deficit, but dominated the remainder of play to earn an 8-4 victory over Virginia's Ian Uriguen and Dino Dell'Orto. 

"Ugur showed why he was nationally ranked in doubles a year ago," said Head Coach Greg Munoz. "Once Francisco loosened up, he did not miss a return for the rest of the match. The two played extremely well together."

Atalay earned a solid first set win in his singles match, but ultimately dropped a tough three-set match to Maryland's John Collins just two hours after his doubles match by scores of 6-3, 0-6, 2-6. 

Dias, ranked No. 959 in the world by the Association of Tennis Professionals, defeated Virginia Commonwealth's Alexis Huegas in convincing fashion, 6-4, 6-1.

"Francisco stayed patient and closed out the first set by winning eight of the final nine points played," Coach Munoz said. "He made some big serves and had great forehand shots."

On Saturday, Atalay and Dias will face the sixth-ranked doubles pair in the country, North Carolina's Brennan Boyajian and Jose Hernandez. 

At the United States Tennis Association (USTA) National Tennis Center (NTC) Men's College Invitational in Flushing, N.Y., sophomore Ulrik Thomsen dropped a three-set match to Columbia's John Yetimoglu by scores of 6-1, 1-6, 7-2. Thomsen had to retire the match in the third set because of an injury. Junior Alexander van Gils also dropped a hard-fought three-set match to Brown's Will Spector, 6-7 (3), 7-6 (5), 10-7.

In the qualifying round of doubles action, Thomsen and van Gils teamed up to defeat Fordham's Srikar Alla and Kuba Kowalski, 8-5. The duo then went on to beat Asika Isoh and Jang-Milsten from Army in extra sets, 9-7, later in the afternoon.

Senior Richard Blumenfeld and sophomore Viktor Svensson fell to Dartmouth's Brandon DeBot and Chris Kipouras, 8-4. The pair bounced back later to earn a 9-8 victory over Alex and Donald Van Velzer from Army.

"This is what fall season is for - we find out what we need to improve upon and we make sure we correct it," Coach Munoz said. "I am happy with the way everyone played. We have a tough fall schedule and it will be good for the guys to compete at that level of play."

All three tournaments return to action Saturday, Sept. 24. Results will be made available at the conclusion of each match.