Men's Tennis | September 13

MILWAUKEE, Wis. – The Northern Illinois University men's tennis team began its fall calendar this weekend by competing in the Milwaukee Tennis Classic. The competitive field included Marquette, Mississippi State, Navy, Notre Dame, Ole Miss, Omaha, Pepperdine, TCU, Texas Tech, UIC and Western Michigan.

"First, thank you to the leaders at the Milwaukee Tennis Classic for a world-class event. We also appreciate Chris and Rory Foley for their generosity in serving as amazing hosts," said head coach René Vidal. "From a performance standpoint, we are far from who need to be mentally, emotionally and physically. We look forward to our next challenge at River Forest."

On Friday, newcomers Curzio Manucci (Genoa, Italy / Coastal Carolina University) and Constantin Radu (Craiova, Romania / UTSA) each recorded their first wins with NIU. Manucci down Marquette's Kristian Blagoev 6-3, 6-4 while Radu bounced back for a gritty 7-5, 7-6 (7-2) win over Clayton Anderson of Marquette.

Radu kept up his strong play on Saturday, securing a pair of three-set wins. The sophomore began by beating Jack Davison of Western Michigan 7-5, 5-7, 10-5 to reach the semifinals of the back draw. Radu posted his third win of the weekend over Texas Tech's Imran Daniel Abdul Hazli in comeback fashion, winning 6-7 (7-5), 6-3, 10-7.

Saul Berdullas (Santiago de Compostela, Spain / University of Texas Arlington) notched a win over Western Michigan's Drew Evans, 6-1, 6-3. Pratyaksh recorded a win by of walkover on Saturday.

The fall campaign for NIU rolls on this weekend as the Huskies host the River Forest Collegiate Invitational from Sept, 18 -19.