University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Nike Fab 4 Tournament
UNC Men's Tennis Off To Strong Start in 2010-11
September 20, 2010 | Men's Tennis
Sept. 20, 2010
CARY, N.C. - The North Carolina men's tennis team kicked off their fall campaign this weekend as one of 11 schools in the Duke Fab Four Invitational at Cary Tennis Park in Cary, N.C.
The tournament was split into three sections for singles and doubles. Each draw consisted of 16 singles competitors and eight doubles pairings. The Tar Heels' sole tournament win came after Zach Hunter and William Parker defeated Duke's David Holland and Chris Mengel, 9-7, to take the Section B doubles crown.
The remaining doubles play saw the new doubles pairing of Brennan Boyajian and Joey Burkhardt upend Ivan Salec and Thomas Dehean of Radford, 8-3, for third place in Section A. In Section C, Alex Rafiee and Cameron Ahari also took third when they took out Alejandro Espitia and Andres Perez of North Carolina Central University, 8-3.
The Tar Heels did not fare as well on the singles side of the draw. One highlight was Burkhardt, a junior transfer from the University of Florida ranked 85th nationally, who took third place in Section A by outlasting Andrew Carter of Louisville, 7-6, 1-6, 6-3. Burkhardt fell to Salec, the eventual Section A runner-up, by a tight score of 1-6, 6-4, 6-1. Elsewhere in Section A, Alex Rafiee placed 13th after pounding Andres Perez of N.C. Central, 6-0, 6-2.
In Section B, Taylor Meyer finished sixth after Radford's Nick Sayer dropped him 6-4, 6-1. Boyajian, ranked No. 66 nationally, was slated to face teammate Hunter for consolation third place but the match was not played. Section C saw Ahari finish sixth and Parker grab consolation third after outplaying Wake Forest's Connor Sherwood 3-6, 6-3, 6-1.
The tournament was dominated by hosts Duke, who took five of the six championships, including a sweep of singles. With Duke, North Carolina competed alongside East Tennessee State, Indiana, Louisville, North Carolina, North Carolina Central, North Carolina State, Radford, South Carolina, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest during the three-day tournament.
Jose Hernandez, ranked preseason No. 30 nationally by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, was not available since he was helping his native Dominican Republic in qualification for the Davis Cup.
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