SAN ANTONIO — Southwestern men's tennis had a successful first day at the 2021 Southwest ITA Regional Championships. Eight of the nine Pirates won their first match to advance to the round of 32. 

Reigning SCAC Co-Players of the Year Hunter Bajoit and Trinity's Cameron Krimbill opened the tournament on opposite sides of the bracket as the top two seeds, with Krimbill earning the top seed but Bajoit winning their most recent matchup on Sept. 11 at the St. Mary's Invitational. 

Bajoit continues to ride that momentum, defeating the University of Texas at Dallas's NIck Boquet in two sets at 6-3, 6-1. He will play LeTourneau's Patrick Baney tomorrow. 

Southwestern's freshman class also made an auspicious ITA Regionals debut, with Daniel Haley, Oscar Roy, and Jared Burton each winning their match. 

Roy lost his first set to the University of Texas at Dallas's Carlos De Leon 5-7 but recovered to take the next two 6-0 and 10-4 to advance and face Trinity University's Dalton Locke. Burton breezed by Howard Payne's Micah Hunter, winning 6-1, 6-2 to advance and face McMurry's Chase Daniell. Haley defeated McMurry's Connor Hogan in two sets, winning 6-3, 6-2. Next, Haley will play Trinity's Cameron Goldstein. 

"Oscar struggled in the first set but then settled down and played his game," Southwestern Head Men's Tennis Coach Billy Porter says. "His resilience was impressive, and he demonstrated his ability to problem solve." 

Steven Tibbets bested Mary Hardin-Baylor's Nic Cusano in two sets, winning 6-0, 6-1, and will face Trinity University's Alessio Azzalini tomorrow morning. Carlos Esteban Rodero won a two-set victory over Hardin-Simmons University's Zach Fowler 6-0, 7-6 (5) and will face the University of Texas at Dallas's Aryan Sharma. 

Anton Borovik defeated Schreiner's Carson Kirk win three sets, winning 2-6, 6-3, 10-5. Next, he will face the University of Texas at Dallas's John Edwards. Max Pearson won his match with LeTourneau's Ryan Holloway 6-3, 6-4 to advance and face Trinity University's Christian Settles.

"Anton pulled out a big win over a No. 1 player, which is something he needed," Porter says. "Seeing Max back out on the courts again was awesome as he's still battling a shoulder injury since his sophomore year. I couldn't be happier for him to get a win." 

Hemanshu Rambojun lost to Concordia's Evan Pena 6-3, 6-4. He'll face East Texas Baptist's Christian Dubec in the consolation bracket. Doubles will also begin tomorrow evening.