LANCASTER, Pa. – The No. 35 Franklin & Marshall men's tennis team (6-3) was defeated by No. 10 Swarthmore (9-5), 6-1, in its Centennial Conference (CC) opener Saturday afternoon in the Alumni Sports & Fitness Center. In their first home match of the spring, the Diplomats jumped out to an early advantage with two wins in doubles. However, the Garnet responded with victories in all six singles bouts to take the match-win.

F&M found early success in doubles as the pairing of Gonzalo Gentou and Soren Rudin-Aulenbach downed their opponents, 6-4, in the No. 3 match for their fifth win together this season. After the Garnet claimed a 6-2 win in the No. 2 match, the Diplomats answered in the decisive No. 1 match. The duo of Zac Ashtiani and Luke Brodsky defeated their opponents, 7-6, to secure the win for F&M in doubles. The pairing now has six victories together this spring.

Swarthmore controlled the singles matches, winning five of the six matches in straight-sets. Ashtiani battled in the No. 2 match, facing Max Lindstrom who is ranked No. 7 for singles in the Atlantic South region. After tying the match with a 7-6 win in the second set, Ashtiani fell, 1(10)-0(8), in the final set.

No. 35 Franklin & Marshall looks to bounce back on Tuesday, traveling to face Gettysburg at 4:00 p.m.

No. 10 Swarthmore 6, No. 35 Franklin & Marshall 1
Doubles
1: Zac Ashtiani/Luke Brodsky (F&M) def. Michael Melnikov/Utham Koduri (SWAT); 7-6
2: Andres Fente/Kai Chen (SWAT) def. Nate Arnold/Samuel Donnelly (F&M); 6-2
3: Gonzalo Gentou/Soren Rudin-Aulenbach (F&M) def. Max Lindstrom/Winston Zhang (SWAT); 6-4
Singles
1: Michael Melnikov (SWAT) def. Luke Brodsky (F&M); 6-2, 6-1
2: Max Lindstrom (SWAT) def. Zac Ashtiani (F&M); 6-0, 7-6, 1(10)-0(8)
3: Nikola Galov (SWAT) def. Samuel Donnelly (F&M); 6-2, 6-1
4: Rishi Verma (SWAT) def. Soren Rudin-Aulenbach (F&M); 6-1, 6-2
5: Andres Fente (SWAT) def. Nate Arnold (F&M); 6-0, 6-1
6: Dylan Hayes Gilbert (SWAT) def. Gonzalo Gentou (F&M); 8-2