Over the weekend, the UIC men's tennis team continued competition at the River Forest Collegiate Invitational, taking on players from seven other Midwestern programs in singles and doubles brackets.   

Day 2

On Saturday, play began with the finals of the doubles draws.  Marcelo Dib and Niko Wasilewicz highlighted the day for the Flames, cruising to an 8-1 win in the championship of the #1 bracket.  They easily dispatched a duo from St. Louis to claim the top doubles trophy.  Johan Hedstrom and Marco Nanni also brought home a championship.  In a hard fought set against Northern Illinois, the Flames' #3 pair outlasted the Huskies 9-7 to give the Flames two championships in two tries.

Alvaro de la Fuente and William Wale fell to St. Louis in the seventh place matchup in flight #2.  The final score was 8-5 in the pro set format.  In the unbracketed #4 doubles flight, Piotr Lada and his partner from Marquette went down to Youngstown State, 8-1.

The singles competition progressed with the second round in all seven brackets.  Dib lost a closely contested match in the #1 draw to Marquette, 6-7 (3), 7-5, 10-8, to slide to the seventh place match.  Wasilewicz suffered the same fate at #2, going down to Eastern Illinois, 7-5, 6-2 (4).  Hedstrom, playing in the winners' bracket at #3, took the first set before his foe from Marquette rallied for a 6-7, 7-5, 14-12 decision.

Wale, playing for a berth in the 5^th place match in the #4 draw, lost to Eastern Illinois 7-5, 6-4.  Nanni advanced to the championship match at #5, dispatching St. Louis 6-2, 6-4.  De la Fuente, slotted in the #6 bracket, lost to Marquette 6-2, 6-4.  Lada was vanquished by Valparaiso at #7, 6-1, 6-2.

Day 3

Sunday's action featured the final rounds of the singles brackets.  Nanni was the Flames' lone representative in a championship match, facing off against Youngstown State for the trophy in the #5 draw.  Nanni had to settle for second place as the Penguin captured a 6-2, 6-4 decision.

Dib was a winner in the 7^th place match at #1.  He took down Eastern Illinois, 1-6, 6-3, (4).  Wasilewicz was the eight place finisher in the #2 draw, falling to Detroit Mercy 6-3, 6-4.  Hedstrom, playing in the third place match in the #3 bracket, was taken down by Northern Illinois 6-1, 6-3.

Wale was the Flames' representative in the #4 draw.  He won that bracket's seventh place match over Youngstown State when his opponent retired in the second set.  De la Fuente, also facing Youngstown State in a seventh place match at #6, had the opposite result as he ended up on the wrong end of a 6-4, 7-5 score.  Lada won his match in the #7 pool, taking down Eastern Illinois, 6-0, 6-4.

The Flames will return to action at the USTA/ITA Midwest Regionals October 19-22 at Ann Arbor, Michigan.