This year's University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's tennis team is loaded with veterans who proved to make the difference in the opening weekend of OUA competition.
On Friday, Toronto defeated the York Lions 6-1. Starting with doubles, the Blues won all matches with the duos of Kevin Wong and Raghav Sundararaman, Nikola Janev and Nathan Li, and William Xi and Charles Zheng picking up the victories. In singles play, last year's rookie of the year Arden Daniello lost a close three-setter versus the top-ranked opponent from York, while the Blues secured wins with ther matchups of players two through six.
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| MEN'S |
                                                   TORONTO won 6-1 |
| DOUBLES |
TORONTOÂ 6 |
|
|
YORKÂ 1 |
| # 1 |
TORONTO |
Kevin Wong / Raghav Sundararaman |
W |
8-6 |
Maxim Tokarev / Ahura Rezaei |
| # 2 |
TORONTO |
Nikola Janev / Nathan Li  |
W |
8-4 |
Christian Giusto / Georg Zoidi |
| # 3 |
TORONTO |
William Xi / Charles Zheng |
W |
8-2 |
Esfandiar Najafizadeh / Wyatt Neal |
| SINGLES |
|
|
|
|
| # 1 |
TORONTO |
Arden Daniello |
 L |
4-6, 7-6, 2-6Â |
Maxim Tokarev |
| # 2 |
TORONTO |
Zack Willson |
 W |
4-6, 6-4, 6-2 |
Georg Zoidi |
| # 3 |
TORONTO |
Michael Chu |
W |
6-3, 6-1 |
Ahura Rezaei |
| # 4 |
TORONTO |
Alec Luchak |
W |
6-4, 6-4 |
Charles Refausse |
| # 5 |
TORONTO |
Raghav Sundararaman |
W |
6-2, 6-3 |
Christian Giusto |
| # 6 |
TORONTO |
Tyler Lunaria |
W |
6-0, 6-1 |
Alex Bodor |
The next day, the Blues followed their season opener up with a clean sweep of the visiting McMaster Marauders. A trio of doubles victories were amplified by secondary singles wins for Rassam Yazdi and Zack Willson, while Kevin Wong impressed with a strong singles victory in the six-slot for Toronto.
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| MEN'S |
                                                   TORONTO won 7-0 |
| DOUBLES |
TORONTOÂ 7 |
|
|
MCMASTERÂ 0 |
| # 1 |
TORONTO |
Rassam Yazdi / Michael Chu |
W |
8-2 |
D. Sharma / A. Astarci |
| # 2 |
TORONTO |
Zack Willson / Arden Daniello |
W |
8-0 |
N. Sampallu / K. Hakilni |
| # 3 |
TORONTO |
Nikola Janev / Nathan Li |
W |
8-1 |
N. Kool / S. Vuyruyyu |
| SINGLES |
|
|
|
|
| # 1 |
TORONTO |
Rassam Yazdi |
W |
6-3, 6-0Â |
D. Sharma |
| # 2 |
TORONTO |
Zack Willson |
W |
6-1, 6-3 |
A. Astarci |
| # 3 |
TORONTO |
Charles Zheng |
W |
7-5, 6-3 |
R. Sivakuma |
| # 4 |
TORONTO |
Raghav Sundararaman |
W |
6-1, 7-5 |
A. Khakiani |
| # 5 |
TORONTO |
William Xi |
W |
7-5, 6-0 |
N. Kool |
| # 6 |
TORONTO |
Kevin Wong |
W |
6-2, 6-4 |
A. Zazeem |
Rounding out the weekend, U of T once again put in an impressive performance, knocking off the Waterloo Warriors by a final tally of 6-1. Adding to the victories for the Blues were Michael Chu and Tyler Lunaria, who each earned a singles win over their counterparts from Waterloo.
Â
| MEN'S |
                                                   TORONTO won 6-1 |
| DOUBLES |
TORONTOÂ 6 |
|
|
WATERLOOÂ 1 |
| # 1 |
TORONTO |
Rassam Yazdi / Michael Chu |
L |
5-8 |
Pavle Milic / Alex Dancea |
| # 2 |
TORONTO |
Zack Willson / Arden Daniello |
W |
8-4 |
Matt Gartner / Matt Steeves |
| # 3 |
TORONTO |
Nikola Janev / Nathan Li |
W |
8-4 |
Aryamie Kapoor / Dan S. |
| SINGLES |
|
|
|
|
| # 1 |
TORONTO |
Rassam Yazdi |
W |
6-3, 6-2Â |
Pavle Milic |
| # 2 |
TORONTO |
Arden Daniello |
L |
0-6, 2-6 |
Alex Dancea |
| # 3 |
TORONTO |
Michael Chu |
W |
8-5 |
Matt Gartner |
| # 4 |
TORONTO |
Zack Willson |
W |
6-7, 6-2, 6-1 |
David Gan |
| # 5 |
TORONTO |
Charles Zheng |
W |
6-2, 6-1 |
Aryamie Kapoor |
| # 6 |
TORONTO |
Tyler Lunaria |
W |
6-2, 6-4 |
Matt Steeves |
Next, Toronto continues to play host at the University of Toronto Scarborough campus with a pair of matchups versus the Western Mustangs on Saturday, Sept. 16 and Brock Badgers on Sunday, Sept. 17.
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