RICHMOND, Ky. – The Eastern Kentucky University men's tennis split its home opener against Northern Kentucky and Cumberlands on Wednesday at the Greg Adams Tennis Center.  The Colonels defeated Northern Kentucky, 6-1, but fell to NAIA Cumberlands, 4-3.
 
EKU (1-5) gets its first win of the 2024-25 season behind singles victories from Fernando Bulnes, Nuno Pinheiro, Christian Cantos Siemers, Mario Monclu Martin, and Romeo Elfving Navarro.  The Colonels earned the doubles point in both contest and had five singles wins come in straight sets.
 
With Wednesday's results, Pinheiro, a native of Sintra, Portugal, has won four of his last five singles matchups from the No. 2 spot and has a combined 7-1 record this season in doubles and singles action.
 
Sophomore Romeo Elfving Navarro earned his first singles win of the season from the No. 6 spot against NKU in straight 6-2, 6-1 sets over Hec Salvador Civera.  Junior Spaniard Fernando Bulnes earned his first singles win of the season from court No. 1 taking down Jacob Rouleau-Mailly 4-6, 6-0, retired.
 
Match One – EKU 6, Northern Kentucky 1
The Colonels quickly claimed the doubles point over the Norse winning on the top two courts by 6-2 and 6-3 results.  EKU's top court of Bulnes and Mario Monclus Martin won by four games over NKU's top pair for their first doubles win of the season.
 
In singles play, EKU immediately went up 2-0 as NKU's No. 2 singles player retired his match due to injury. The Colonels added extra pressure and extended their lead to 3-0 with a 6-3, 6-3 win from Pinheiro on court No. 3 over Xavier Ecarma.
 
EKU claimed the victory from Monclus Martin by a 6-4, 6-2 score on court No. 5 for the team's first win of the season.  Both coaches elected to finish the remaining courts out and EKU claimed two more points from court Nos. 1 and 6 to win the match over NKU, 6-1.
 
Doubles
1. Fernando Bulnes and Mario Monclus Martin (EKU) def. Xavier Ecarma and Jackson Poulos (NKU) 6-2
2. Nuno Pinheiro and Christian Cantos Siemers (EKU) def. Emilio Bravo and Joao Pimenta (NKU) 6-3
3. Jacob Rouleau-Mailly and Hec Salvador Civera (NKU) def. Adrian Contreras and Ryan Kitchin (EKU) 6-2
 
Order of finish: 1,2,3
 
Singles
1. Fernando Bulnes (EKU) def. Jacob Rouleau-Mailly (NKU) 4-6, 6-0, ret.
2. Emilio Bravo (NKU) def. Adrian Contreras (EKU) 6-3, 2-6, 7-5
3. Nuno Pinheiro (EKU) def. Xavier Ecarma (NKU) 6-3, 6-3
4. Christian Cantos Siemers (EKU) def. Joao Pimenta (NKU) ret.
5. Mario Monclus Martin (EKU) def. Jackson Poulos (NKU) 6-4, 6-2
6. Romeo Elfving Navarro (EKU) def. Hec Salvador Civera (NKU) 6-2, 6-1
 
Order of finish: 4,3,5,1,2,6
 
Match Two – Cumberlands 4, EKU 3
Despite a contested doubles effort from Cumberlands, who made the NAIA National Championship last season, EKU won the point off 6-3 and 6-4 victories from courts two and three, respectively.  On court No. 3, Kartik Parhar won his first match of the season paired with teammate Ryan Kitchin.
 
Pinheiro and Cantos Siemers had straight set singles wins against UC, however, EKU couldn't make up ground on other courts to fall in the latter of the doubleheader.
 
Doubles
1. Fernando Bulnes and Mario Monclus Martin (EKU) vs. Liam Savio and Gabriele Solda (UC) 5-5, unf.
2. Nuno Pinheiro and Christian Cantos Siemers (EKU) def. Darius Kuster and Sam Rakotondrainibe (UC) 6-3
3. Ryan Kitchin and Kartik Parhar (EKU) def. Pierlu Cruypenninck and Ruben Minguez (UC) 6-4
 
Order of finish: 2,3
 
Singles
1. Liam Savio (UC) def. Fernando Bulnes (EKU) 5-7, 0-2, ret.
2. Nuno Pinheiro (EKU) def. Gabriele Solda (UC) 6-1, 6-0
3. Christian Cantos Siemers (EKU) def. Juanchi Alcon (UC) 6-1, 6-2
4. Darius Kuster (UC) def. Mario Monclus Martin (EKU) 7-6, 6-4
5. Pierlu Cruypenninck (UC) def. Romeo Elfving Navarro (EKU) 6-4, 6-4
6. Sam Rakotondrainibe (UC) def. Kartik Parhar (EKU) 6-1, 6-3
 
Order of finish: 3,2,1,4,6,5
 
Next Up
EKU men's tennis returns to action on Saturday back inside the Greg Adams Tennis Center with a doubleheader against Lindsey Wilson and Shawnee State.  The first match is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. ET.