ABILENE, TX - The Trinity University men's tennis team got off to a strong start at the 2026 ITA Southwest Regional Championships on Thursday, winning 22 of its 26 matches on day one. Seven Tigers advanced to the singles Round of 16, and all five Trinity doubles teams won their openers.

Ten of Trinity's 11 singles players won in the Round of 64, and seven came back to win again in the Round of 32. Singles play resumes Friday at 9:00 a.m., with the doubles Round of 16 to follow at 1:00 p.m.

Defending regional champion Kishan Kersten (Plano, Texas / West) picked up right where he left off a year ago. The top seed opened with a 6-0, 6-2 win over Alfaro of the University of Dallas, then handled Cooper of Hardin-Simmons University 6-2, 6-2. Kersten will face Reiman of LeTourneau University in the Round of 16.

Last year's runner-up was just as sharp. Second seed Jared Perry (Tucson, Ariz. / Catalina Foothills) beat Rossi of the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor 6-3, 6-0, then dropped only two games in a 6-1, 6-1 win over Brown of Concordia University. Perry meets Abbey of Hardin-Simmons on Friday.

Third seed Ryan Warren (Keller, Texas / Connections Academy), the 2024 regional champion, had to work a little harder. After shutting out Lomelli of McMurry University 6-0, 6-0, Warren lost the opening set to UMHB's Escudero Macias. He then battled back to take the second set and won the match tiebreaker 10-5 for a 4-6, 6-2, (10-5) victory. Warren faces Foster of Hardin-Simmons next.

Several other Tigers cruised through the day. Kartick Gusain (Cambridge, Canada / Ontario Virtual) lost just four games, beating Naude of East Texas Baptist University 6-2, 6-1 and UMHB's Torres 6-1, 6-0. TJ Shanahan (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma / Bishop McGuinness) beat St Ville of Texas Lutheran University 6-3, 6-1. He then rolled past He of the University of St. Thomas 6-2, 6-0. Brodie Keller (Sacramento, California / School for the Talented and Gifted) got past Keeney-McCollough of Howard Payne University 6-3, 6-4 before a 6-0, 6-1 win over ETBU's Van Zyl. He'll play Smith of Hardin-Simmons on Friday. Fabio Di Loreto (The Woodlands, Texas / The Woodlands) beat Patel of Southwestern University 6-4, 6-3 and UMHB's Zivkovic 6-2, 6-4. That sets up a meeting with Hristov of UMHB.

Three Tigers will also have a chance to avenge teammates on Friday. Ethan Ruppanner (Amarillo, Texas / Tascosa) fell to Reiman 6-4, 7-6 (8-6) in the Round of 64, putting Reiman in Kersten's path. Ethan Flores (Houston, Texas / Clear Lake) won a match tiebreaker over UMHB's Marchetti 6-1, 3-6, (10-4). He then fell to Concordia's Scholz 6-4, 6-4, and Scholz will now face Shanahan. Ivan Nikolovski (Alpine, New Jersey / Dwight Global) outlasted Mudry of St. Thomas 4-6, 6-4, (10-8), then lost to Arens of Southwestern 6-3, 6-0. Arens next takes on Gusain. Roshin Kamath (League City, Texas / Clear Springs) also won his opener, 6-3, 6-0 over UMHB's Cavero Virreira. He then dropped a 7-5, 6-4 decision to Southwestern's Langford.

The Tigers were perfect in doubles. The top-seeded pair of Kersten and Perry opened with an 8-3 win over Brown and Nelligan of Concordia and will face Mudry and Salazar Jr. of St. Thomas next. Flores and Kamath, the second seeds and defending champions, also won 8-3, beating Rozani and Foster of Hardin-Simmons. They meet Reiman and Vazquez of LeTourneau in the Round of 16.

Gusain and Di Loreto rolled past Yi and Alfaro of Dallas 8-1 to set up a match with Rossi and Hernandez Bayona of UMHB. Nikolovski and Ruppanner were just as dominant, beating Briggs and McIver of Austin College 8-1. They will face Smith and Harris of Hardin-Simmons. Shanahan and Keller topped Sullins and St Ville of Texas Lutheran 8-3 and will play Griffin and Hollingsworth of Concordia.

Seven Tiger singles players return to the court Friday at 9:00 a.m., playing for a spot in Saturday's Quarterfinals. All five doubles teams take the court at 1:00 p.m., with the doubles Quarterfinals set for 2:30 p.m. later that afternoon. Trinity is looking to defend the singles and doubles titles it swept a year ago.