Looking to repeat their nearly flawless season as the NCAA Division III tennis team champions, the athletes from the Case Western Reserve University men’s tennis team entered the ITA Central Regional Championships in Kalamazoo, Michigan with a winning mentality.

The first day of the offseason tournament saw all five CWRU singles players advance to the round of 32. Meanwhile, two out of three doubles pairings advanced to the round of 16. Ninth-seeded third-year Casey Hishinuma and graduate student Michael Sutanto lost 8-6 in a tight match.

On the second day, second-year Anmay Devaraj and graduate student Diego Maza lost in the round of 32 and 16, respectively. However, they did not go down without a fight, as Devaraj forced a third set against the top-seeded player Derek Hsieh of the University of Chicago, while Maza upset the second-seeded Rishil Kondapaneni of Kenyon College before losing in the round of 16.

Though they both lost their singles matches, Devaraj and Maza still came out victorious in their doubles draw. The doubles pairing of Maza and fourth-year Vishwa Aduru won both of their matches to reach the semifinals, where they later faced the other CWRU doubles pairing of Devaraj and fourth-year Sahil Dayal. The other three singles players, third-year Ajay Mahenthiran, Sutanto and Hishinuma, all won their respective matches on the second day to reach the quarterfinals.

Following a respectable Day Two record with only two CWRU players losing their singles matches, Day Three consisted of several eliminations, as the two doubles pairings were pitted against each other as well as Mahenthiran and Sutanto in the singles draw. Devaraj and Dayal fell to the second seeded Maza and Aduru, who went on to win the ITA championship and earn All-America honors for the 2023-24 season.

Following a similar trend, Mahenthiran beat fourth-seeded teammate Sutanto in singles play 6-0, 6-3 and followed up his impressive inter-team win with a three-set win against Denison University’s Ethan Green to reach the singles championship match. Hishinuma saw the end of his tournament run with a 6-1, 6-1 loss to UChicago’s Emil Grantcharov, whom Mahenthiran was slated to play in the finals.

The men’s tennis team capped off their incredible performance with a huge win from Mahenthiran in the finals against fellow ninth-seeded Grantcharov. In doing so, he became the second Spartan in program history to win the ITA Central Regional Championships. Mahenthiran bested Grantcharov in straight sets to not only take home the coveted trophy, but to also earn All-America honors for the 2023-24 season and clinch a spot at the 2023 ITA Cup in Rome, Georgia. He will be joined by Maza and Aduru, who will be in the doubles draw.