Men's Tennis | September 14

RIVER FOREST, IL. – The Northern Illinois University men's tennis team began the 2025-26 season at the River Forest Collegiate Invitational this weekend.

The Huskies hosted Drake, Illinois State, Marquette, Saint Louis, UIC, Washington University and Western Michigan at the River Forest Tennis Club as well as the Oak Park Tennis Center.

"Overall, it was a great event for Huskie men's tennis," head coach René Vidal said. "While it is just the beginning, I am confident that our team is positioned to make great things happen this season."

NIU had a strong showing in doubles as Pratyaksh LNU (Delhi, India / Tagore International School) and Chiao Bo Suo Nan (Taiwan / Taipei Municipal Jianguo) defeated pairings from Washington University and UIC while Iker Gaztambide Arrastia (Pamplona, Spain / Jesuitas) and Nikola Puntaric (Ljubljana, Slovenia / Tulsa) downed opponents from St. Louis and Marquette.

"In doubles, Iker and Nikola dominated at returns and net play while Prat and Suo served big and played smart to win," Vidal said.

In singles, Lorenzo Leti Messina (Rome, Italy) took fifth place at No. 2 Singles over Andres Castellanos of St. Louis. Iker Dellien Velasco (Trinidad, Bolivia / UAB) also took fifth place, defeating Ulysse Verrando of Drake at No. 3 Singles.

"In singles, several players earned victories over higher-rated UTR opponents including Nikola, Lorenzo, Iker (Dellien), and Sam (Klein)," Vidal said.

Next up for NIU is the Redbird Invitational from October 3–5, hosted by Illinois State.