Two Cornell men's tennis players will compete in separate tournaments Nov. 5-8 as the Big Red pursue more spots in the NCAA individual championships.
Freshman Cezar Papoe is headed to the ITA Sectionals in Charlottesville, Virginia, while sophomore Rethin Pranav Senthil Kumar will play singles at the Conference Masters in Rome, Georgia, according to Cornell's tournament preview.
Papoe opens against Virginia's Kim
Papoe, ranked No. 100 by the ITA, is scheduled to face Virginia's Jangjun Kim in the round of 32 at noon Thursday, Nov. 5.
Kim is the tournament's No. 2 seed and holds the No. 33 national ranking.
The University of Virginia will host the sectional, with matches streamed on YouTube.
Shorter University is hosting the Conference Masters, where Senthil Kumar's singles draw had not been released when Cornell issued its preview.
NCAA places on the line
The four sectional tournaments will send 24 singles players to the NCAA championships Nov. 17-22 at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Georgia.
Each sectional will qualify its four semifinalists and two additional players through quarterfinal playoff matches.
Cornell junior Rodrigo Fernandes has already secured a singles berth, while junior Rushil Khosla and Senthil Kumar have qualified in doubles.
Cornell's previous tournament results
Khosla and Senthil Kumar reached the doubles round of 16 at last season's Conference Masters in San Diego.
They defeated South Carolina State's Mikalai Bankou and Bastian Zamora 6-1, 6-1 before falling to top-seeded Pepperdine brothers Edward and Hugh Winter 3-6, 7-6 (4), 11-9.
At the previous sectionals in Chapel Hill, senior Felipe Pinzon beat Wake Forest's Kacper Szymkowiak 3-6, 6-4, 7-5, then lost to Harvard's Melchior Delloye 4-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5).
Fernandes lost his opener to Wake Forest's Joaquin Guilleme 6-2, 7-6 (5).
In consolation play, Fernandes defeated Old Dominion's Adam Majchrzak 6-4, 7-5 before losing to South Carolina's Lucas Andrade Da Silva 6-2, 6-3.
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