CHENEY, Wash.—The University of Idaho men's tennis team opened up the 2016 fall season this past weekend at the Eastern Washington Fall Classic. Idaho's top showing came in doubles, taking championship and third-place titles.
 
Junior Mark Kovacs paired up with freshman Carlos Longhi Neto for the weekend. The pair finished a perfect 4-0 in the doubles bracket to take the tournament title. They squeaked into the semifinals with a tight 9-8(5) win over the duo of Everly/Moreno from Gonzaga. The semi's was and all-Vandal affair. Kovacs and Longhi Neto defeated teammates Felipe Fonseca and Guilherme Scarpelli, 6-4, 6-2, to earn a shot at the doubles title. Idaho's top pair met Eastern Washington's No. 1 pairing in the finals. Idaho took the final match in quick fasion, 6-2, 6-0.

Fonseca and Scapelli went on to take third-place with a 6-3, 6-4 win over EWU's Pereira and Almeida. 

Idaho also had some strong singles performances across the two separate flights. Kovacs led the Vandals in the Red Flight. He defeated EWU's Vuk Vuckovic, 6-0, 6-3, in the round of 16. He bowed out of the main draw in the quarterfinals, only to win his next two matches to finish 3-1 on the weekend.  Fonseca won his opneing round match, 6-4, 6-2, over Montana State's Rok Sitar, advancing into the round of 16. He would be ousted by Gonzaga's Vincent Rettke in three sets, 6-1, 4-6, 7-5, falling to the drop down bracket. The senior advanced to the semifinals of the drop down, falling to Seattle U's Arshak Ghazarvan. Fonseca closed the weekend with a 6-2, 6-2 win over EWU's Ricardo Almeida.

Lucas Coutinho led the Vandals in the Black Flight. He advanced to the quarterfinals with 7-5, 6-0 win over Seattle U's Adrian Sanabria. Gonzaga's Ronzai Saurombe defeated Coutinho in their quarterfinal match, 6-2, 6-3. The sophomore defeated Montana State's Dylan Harvala, 7-6(6), 6-1, in drop down play, before closing the weekend with a 6-4, 4-6, 13-11 loss to EWU's Luke Ness. 

The Vandals will head to West Lafayette, Ind., on Friday to begin the Purdue Fall Invitational. The three-day tournament is set for Sept. 23-25. 

Fans can stay up-to-date on all things Idaho tennis by following the team on Twitter @Vandalstennis.