Rome, Ga. - Rhodes men's tennis started out strong in the first round of matches at the 2018 International Tennis Association's Atlantic South Regionals Friday. 

Four out of six singles players in the main draw picked up wins while all five players in the B and C draws advanced to the second round. Junior Ritwik Chatterjee led the way with two wins and advanced to the Round of 16. Junior Phil Lauture won his first round and had to retire during his second round match. Freshman Alex Lloyd and senior Sean Hogan both won their first round before losing to seeded players in the second round. Juniors PJ Shaw and Andrew Morton lost their first round to seeded players and picked up wins in the consolation to advance to Saturday's round. 

In the B draw, senior Sairam Gudiseva advanced to the quarterfinals after a 5-7, 7-5, 10-7 win over Sewanee's Ryan Wax. Freshmen Ryan Crump and Frank Stich won their opening rounds but fell in their second round to Oglethorpe and Emory respectively. 

In the C draw, freshman Alvaro Siu opened with two wins over Covenant and LaGrange to advance to the quarterfinals. First-year junior Philipp Zeifang won his first round against Guilford and went down in his second round 6-2, 6-4 to Sewanee's Hamze Khan. 

In doubles competion, all f teams won their first round matches. Chatterjee and Lauture defeated Piedmont and Centre to advance to the quarterfinals of the A draw. Also in the A draw, Morton and Shaw lost a tough second-round match 8-6 to NC Wesleyan, and Stich and Crump lost 8-1 to a strong Emory team. In the B draw, seniors Hogan and Gudiseva picked up two close wins, 9-8(5) over Oglethorpe and 8-6 over Sewanee. In the C draw, freshman Siu and Lloyd dominated with wins over Covenant 8-5 and Centre 8-1. 

Play for day two begins with singles at 8:30 a.m. ET and doubles at 2:00 p.m. ET.

Full scores and results for Rhodes' 29-10 first-day results can be found here.