MIDDLEBURY, Vt. – Fletcher King and Mahen Bitkuri advanced to the B Flight doubles final to highlight the Skidmore College men's tennis team's season-opening weekend at the Middlebury Invitational.

• King and Bitkuri opened doubles play with an 8-4 victory over Hamilton's Salib and Dhull before edging Bates' Park and Kizer, 8-7(6), in the semifinals. Their run ended in another tight tiebreak in the final, where Bates' Marshall and Kirby prevailed, 8-7(5).
• Skidmore also enjoyed a strong run in the A Flight doubles draw. Yuval Goodman and Radin Sadeghi rolled to an 8-2 quarterfinal victory over Hamilton's Stuart Konezny and Martin Dimitrov before falling to Middlebury's Thehan Wijemanne and Noah Lewis, 8-4, in the semifinals.
• Ege Topbas and Nathan Dolgushev added an 8-3 victory over Middlebury's Hernandez and Andy Yim in the A doubles back draw.
• Topbas led the Thoroughbreds in the A singles bracket. He defeated Middlebury's Arjun Reiland, 6-3, 6-3, in the opening round before pushing Hamilton's Konezny to a match tiebreak in the quarterfinals. Topbas took the opening set before Konezny rallied for a 1-6, 6-4, 1-0(10-4) victory.
• Goodman added a straight-set back-draw win over Bates' Phillippe Kosyagin, 6-4, 6-2.
• In B singles, Dolgushev and Bitkuri each won their opening matches to advance. Dolgushev came from behind to defeat Hamilton's Dimitrov, 4-6, 6-3, 1-0(10-5), while Bitkuri topped Bates' Nico Ozer, 7-6(0), 6-1.
• Bruce Lunder accounted for Skidmore's other singles victory with an 8-6 win over Bates' Will Marshall in the C Flight back draw.

NEXT UP
Skidmore returns to action Sept. 25-27 when it hosts the ITA Regionals at the McCaffery-Wagman Tennis and Wellness Center.
 
RESULTS
A Singles
First Round
Thehan Wijemanne (MIDD) def. Radin Sadeghi (SKID) 6-1, 7-5
Andy Yim (MIDD) def. Fletcher King (SKID) 6-7(5), 6-4, 1-0(10-6)
Noah Lewis (MIDD) def. Yuval Goodman (SKID) 1-6, 6-0, 1-0(10-7)
Ege Topbas (SKID) def. Arjun Reiland (MIDD) 6-3, 6-3
 
Quarterfinals
Stuart Konezny (HAM) def. Ege Topbas (SKID) 1-6, 6-4, 1-0(10-4)
 
Back Draw
Yuval Goodman (SKID) def. Phillippe Kosyagin (BATES) 6-4, 6-2
Rocco Regnier (BATES) def. Mahen Bitkuri (SKID) 6-4, 6-4
Arjun Reiland (MIDD) def. Yuval Goodman (SKID) 8-3
 
B Singles
First Round
Nathan Dolgushev (SKID) def. Martin Dimitrov (HAM) 4-6, 6-3, 1-0(10-5)
Mahen Bitkuri (SKID) def. Nico Ozer (BATES) 7-6(0), 6-1
 
Quarterfinals
Hayden Williams (MIDD) def. Nathan Dolgushev (SKID) 5-7, 6-1, 1-0(10-7)
Nikky Kondamuri (MIDD) def. Mahen Bitkuri 7-6(0), 6-1
Anand Sahasrabudhe (MIDD) def. Nathan Dolgushev (SKID) 6-4, 4-6, 1-0(10-7)
 
C Singles
First Round
Markus Andersson (BATES) def. Bruce Lunder (SKID) 6-3, 6-0
 
Quarterfinals
Justin Zhou (MIDD) def. Harrison Gradin (SKID) 6-1, def. (inj.)
 
Back Draw
Bruce Lunder (SKID) def. Will Marshall (BATES) 8-6
Alexander Salib (HAM) def. Bruce Lunder (SKID) 6-4, 4-6, 1-0(11-9)
 
A Doubles
Quarterfinals
Goodman/Sadeghi (SKID) def. Konezny/Dimitrov (HAM) 8-2
Williams/Reiland (MIDD) def. Topbas/Dolgushev (SKID) 8-4
 
Semifinals
Wijemanne/Lewis (MIDD) def. Goodman/Sadeghi (SKID) 8-4
 
Back Draw
Topbas/Dolgushev (SKID) def. Hernandez/Yim (MIDD) 8-3
Ozer/Maller (BATES) def. Topbas/Dolgushev (SKID) 8-6
 
B Doubles
Quarterfinals
King/Bitkuri (SKID) def. Salib/Dhull (HAM) 8-4
Zhou/Groves (MIDD) def. Gradin/Swan (SKID) 8-4
 
Semifinals
King/Bitkuri (SKID) def. Park/Kizer (BATES) 8-7(6)
 
Final
Marshall/Kirby (BATES) def. King/Bitkuri (SKID) 8-7(5)