Penn men’s tennis hosted the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Northeast Regionals, where the Quakers held strong defending the home courts.

Sophomore Nischal Spurling punched his ticket to the NCAA Singles Championships after making it to the finals of the singles tournament, while junior Justin Chung and senior Aaron Sandler finished as runners-up in the doubles tournament. 

Here’s what else happened at the Hamlin/Hecht Tennis Centers from Oct. 15-20. 

Doubles

In the round of 64, the Quakers had five pairs competing, three of which managed to advance to the round of 32.

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In their first matches, senior Luka Butera and sophomore Adam Bain fell to a Lehigh duo, 8-6, while No. 11 tournament seed pairing junior Callum Markowitz and Spurling fell to a doubles pair from the New Jersey Institute of Technology, 8-5. 

Sophomore Vojtech Vales and junior Shaurya Bharadwaj, the No. 3 tournament seed, won their opening round in an impressive 8-1 victory over Mercyhurst’s Nathan Paszylk and Mykhailo Polishchuk. Vales and Bharadwaj  unfortunately fell, 8-5, in the following round to Princeton’s Milan Markovits and Jordan Reznik, who ultimately advanced to the quarterfinals.

Senior Parashar Bharadwaj and freshman Sebastian Chodura opened with promise, defeating a Villanova pair 8-4 in their first match. In the round of 32 they fell to a similar fate as their teammates and lost 8-4 to No. 12 tournament seed Tarek Mo Erlewein and William Burridge of Drexel.

The final pair to advance to the round of 32 were Sandler and Chung, who entered the ITA Northeast Regionals as the No. 6 tournament seed. Sandler had all eyes on him after finishing last season as the most successful duo in Penn men’s tennis history alongside 2026 Wharton graduate Manfredi Graziani. Graziani and Sandler made a deep run to the semifinals of the NCAA Doubles Championships last fall, becoming the first doubles All-Americans in program history.

Last year’s success weighed on this year’s duo as their rackets fought to defend a legacy and home court. The new Sandler/Chung partnership took its first two matches with ease, defeating both opponents from Fordham and Penn State, 8-6. 

The pressure was on as Sandler and Chung entered as the Quakers’ only representatives in the round of 16. They managed to take it all in stride, defeating No. 9 tournament seed Meecah Bigun and JunHao Luo of Princeton, 8-4 – their largest margin of victory yet.

Sandler and Chung carried that momentum into the quarterfinals, limiting their opponents from St. Joseph’s to two games. The Quakers faced their second ranked opponent of the tournament in the semifinals, where the matches expanded to multiple sets. 

The two fought their way in a close game, earning the win in a 7-6(7-4) tiebreak in the first set. Chung and Sandler would secure their spot in the finals with a 6-3 victory in the second set to take down Columbia rivals Andrew Kotzen and Jordan Chang.

But the Lions weren’t slain yet. Columbia duo and No. 5 tournament seed Andrew Ena and Damir Zhalgasbay were ready to avenge their fallen teammates in the finals.

The game was a back-and-forth, point-to-point phenomenon, with the Quakers suffering a 6-4 loss in the first set. Although the second set went to a tiebreak, Ena and Zhalgasbay ultimately came out on top, as Sandler and Chung suffered a 7-6(7-2) defeat that cost the Quakers the home title. 

Sandler and Chung still ended the tournament on a high note, earning a bid to ITA Sectionals, where they can potentially punch their tickets to the NCAA Doubles Championships in late November.

Singles

Although every Quaker qualified for the singles tournament, not all chose to compete. Junior Zaid Al Mashni notably sat out, and Sandler chose to forgo the competition as well.

Of the ten Quakers who competed in the singles tournament, two had to play in the qualifying rounds before the main draw. Parashar Bharadwaj, the No. 10 qualifying round seed, won his opening match, 6-2, 6-0, but suffered a narrow 7-5 defeat at the hands of Adam Kresina of St. John’s in the opening set of the round of 32. Kresina went on to shut out Bharadwaj, 6-0, in the following set, with no Quakers advancing from the qualifiers to the main draw.

All eyes were on Vales and Shaurya Bharadwaj after a deep doubles run at the ITA All-American Championships in September. Vales entered as the No. 14 tournament seed, but ultimately fell to an unseeded opponent, 6-2, 6-3, in the round of 64. Bharadwaj, who was seeded No. 15, was able to turn the tide in the round of 64, taking down Princeton’s Ford McCollum in a tiebreak. 

Bharadwaj fell, 6-1, 6-2, in the round of 32 to eventual tournament semifinalist Ena. Still, several Quakers were able to make a run and defend the Hamlin/Hecht Tennis Centers with Bain, Chung, and Spurling all advancing to the tournament quarterfinals. 

Both Bain and Spurling were unseeded entering the tournament, but managed to upset ranked opponents in the previous rounds. Bain upset No. 4 tournament seed Thanaphat Boosarawongse of Columbia in straight sets during the round of 32, while Spurling took down back-to-back seeded opponents in the round of 32 and the round of 16. 

Despite being shutout by No. 13 tournament seed Aleksander Mitric of Princeton in the round of 32, Spurling bounced back with a renewed sense of vitality, never dropping a set for the rest of the tournament. 

The quarterfinals proved to be a test for each of the Quakers as each of their matches came down to tiebreak games. Chung faced an uphill battle against No. 2 tournament seed Landon Ardila of Princeton, falling in the first set, 6-3. The Irvine, Calif., native attempted a comeback campaign in the second set, but came up just shy, with the final score reading 7-6(8-6). 

Perhaps looking to defend his Quaker brethren who had fallen at Ena’s hand earlier in the tournament, Bain entered his quarterfinal match on a hot streak. Despite finishing 7-6 in the first set, Ena shut out Bain in a 7-0 tiebreak. 

Bain bounced back with vengeance as the second set went to tiebreaks once again, but this time the Quaker came out on top, taking down the Lion, 7-6(7-4). Unfortunately, Bain couldn’t replicate that success in the final set, where he was shut out once more in tiebreaks, 7-6(7-0). 

Although Spurling went to tiebreaks in his first set against Yerassyl Bakhtiyar of NJIT, the Quaker shut out the Highlander in the following set. The Los Angeles, Calif., native avenged Bain’s loss in the semifinals, taking down Ena, 6-4, 6-1, to advance to the final round. 

Although Spurling has already punched his ticket for the NCAA Singles Championships, Bain and Chung earned bids for the ITA Sectionals, where they too can secure a spot at NCAAs.