LAKELAND, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle men's tennis team had a strong showing in singles play on the first day of the ITA/NCAA II South Regional tournament. The Eagles registered a pair of upsets on the way to winning seven singles matches, which sent three individuals to the round of 16.
 
The first singles match to finish for the Blue & Gold saw freshman Josh Nuyts topple Barry's ninth-seeded David Rieme 6-2, 6-2. Newcomer Safar Rasulov notched the Eagles' second upset of the day when he rallied from being a break down at 3-4 in the first set to defeat fourth-seeded Emiliano Elazarraraz of Delta State 6-4, 6-1. 
 
The third singles win of the day went to Fernando Alonso who downed Palm Beach Atlantic's Luis Eduardo Platas 6-4, 6-1 to move on to the second round. Alvaro Diaz Rodrigo closed out the first round of singles by outlasting Mario Garoz of Florida Southern 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-5). 
 
The start of the second round of singles matches saw Rasulov make quick work of Philippe Zehender dispatching the Montevallo player 6-1, 6-2 to advance to the round of 16. Nuyts also improved his singles record on the day to 2-0 when he downed Florida Southern's Inaki Braun Simo 6-3, 6-2. 
 
Alonso was also victorious his second-round match, battling Lynn's Yaron Guberman to a 6-1, 1-6, 10-6 win.  
 
Play resumes on Saturday with all three Eagles taking the court at 10 a.m. Nuyts squares off against Lynn's Gianmarco Amatiste, while Rasulov faces West Florida's Bernardo Costa and Alonso takes on Spring Hill's Philip Bosman.