PHILADELPHIA, Pa. (Oct. 2, 2012) – It was another great run for the Saint Francis U men's tennis team at the prestigious University of Pennsylvania Fall Invitational. The men were coming off great wins at the US Open College Invitational where they racked up over 15 wins, two titles and four finalists. This invitational was just as difficult, competing against top-ranked teams including Iowa, Brown, Buffalo, Temple, Penn and Minnesota. The Red Flash men managed to pick up seven wins and two finalists.

Washi Gervais (Longueuil, Quebec/College Stanislas) and Chris Jimenez (Bayside, N.Y./St. Francis Preparatory) helped SFU establish credibility by reaching the finals in both front and back draws.

Gervais, coming off tough matches at the US Open invitational in which he reached the finals, had an impressive run at the Penn Invitational. Gervais came out strong against Buffalo no. 5 Jason Shkodnik winning 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) in a long two-and-a-half hour match. In the quarters, Gervais then faced Drexel no. 5 Srinivasan Jeqanthan easily winning 6-3, 6-3. Gervais forced a total of 16 errors on Jeqanthan while maintaining a 73 percent first serve percentage. In the semis, Gervais came back from a 0-6 first set romp to beat Saint Joseph's 0-6, 6-4, 11-9. The final match against Brown no. 6 player David Neff proved too much for Gervais falling 6-2, 6-1.

Jimenez got off to a slow start in the first round after drawing top Penn freshman Vim DeAlwiss, Jimenez fought hard after losing the first set 6-3, bounce back in the second but unable to close out a third super tiebreaker, losing 3-6, 6-2, 10-5. In the backdraw quarterfinals, Jimenez faced Norfolk Igor Braga and came out ahead in a close second set 6-3, 7-5 win. Jimenez went on to beat no. 3 Erik Thunberg from Saint Joseph's easily 6-2, 6-2 but in the finals struggled to overcome no. 5 singles Ruben Haggai from Binghampton 6-1, 6-1.

“Both Washi and Chris had a great run at this event,” said SFU head coach Paul Tobin.  “These are not easy matches to close out and both of them stepped up for the team. We are all very proud of them and what they did out there.”

Sergio Carvajal (Nueva Esparta, Venezuela/U.E. Fray Elias Maria Sendra) struggling to pick up wins this fall fell to no. 2 player from NJIT Petr Rousar in a close 6-2, 7-6 (7-6) in the first round. At one point Carvajal was leading 6-5 on serve in the second but was unable to close out the set and match. In the backdraw, Carvajal picked up a win over Saint Joseph's, Alex Veronis by default but fell to Kristin Marquart from Temple in the semis 7-5, 6-1. Carvajal was once again up a break, but could not hold onto the lead and close out the set.

In another notable match, after losing to Penn's Sylvestor Wee in the first round, Juan Pardo (Bogota, Colombia/Colegio Andino) almost rallied against St. Peter's no. 4 player. Trailing 3-6 in the first, Pardo fought back in the second only to lose in a tight 10-7 super tiebreaker. Lawson Barter (Chicago, Ill./Loyola) was also up 5-4 in the second against no. 5 Penn senior Jason Magnes, but was unable to hold falling 7-5. Freshman Kevin Pijper (Amsterdam, Netherlands/Amstelpark Tennis Academy) fought a tough second round match against Temple line-up player Moros Januvka – trailing 4-1 in the second, he was able to bounce back four games but fell 7-5 in the tiebreaker.

In doubles competition, only Lawson Barter (Chicago, Ill./Loyola) and Kevin Pijper (Amsterdam, Netherlands/Amstelpark Tennis Academy) made it to the round of 16 with an impressive win over the no. 3 team from Temple, Moros Januvka and Micham Belkssir 8-4. They fell to top Penn seniors Lucas Andreika and Jason Magnes 8-1.

“I am proud of both Lawson and Kevin for advancing,” said Tobin. “However we have a long way to go in doubles if we are going to secure the doubles point in dual competition.”