WACO, Texas - Idaho tennis players Abid Akbar and Marius Cirstea had a successful first day at one of the top collegiate men's tennis tournaments in the country on Friday at the Baylor Intercollegiate.
Akbar won a pair of singles matches to advance to the round of 16, while Cirstea narrowly lost his first-round match before coming back to win in the consolation draw.
Akbar beat Elliot Minvielle of Louisiana-Lafayette 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 in the round of 64, then won 6-4, 6-3 over Baylor's Robert Verzaal to advance to the round of 16. Cirstea's 7-6, 6-2 loss came at the hands of Tennessee's Brandon Fickey.
In doubles action, the two won their first two matches to advance to the quarterfinals before falling 9-8 to the fourth seeded doubles pairing in the tournament.
"I saw some promising things today," Idaho coach Jeff Beaman said. "To start the year against this level of competition and put up solid results was nice."
The tournament continues throughout the weekend.
