ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The George Mason University men's tennis team continued its excellent start to the 2024-25 season at the Joe Hunt Invitational this weekend.
 
On the campus of the U.S. Naval Academy, the Patriots combined to go a solid 13-7 in tournament singles and 6-4 in doubles against some outstanding regional competition.
 
Junior Ekansh Kumar led the Green & Gold with a perfect 3-0 singles record in the Red B Division. That included wins over Marcel Dawson of Howard (6-2, 6-2), Anargha Ganguly of St. Bonaventure (6-4, 2-0, ret.) and Gryffin Minor (6-3, 6-3) of Fairleigh Dickinson. The solid weekend improved Kumar to 5-1 in singles this fall after transferring to Mason from Indiana University.
 
Kumar also picked up a doubles win alongside freshman Shari Saeed, defeating FDU's Neira/Wrann duo, 6-4.
 
Junior Zavan Fahim improved to 4-1 in fall singles after a perfect 2-0 record this weekend in the Green B Division. He picked up wins over Mary Washington's Evan Fisher (6-4, 6-3) and Mt. St. Mary's Alexi Roy (4-6, 6-2, 6-3).
 
Freshman Shari Saeed picked up two wins in the Pink B Division, including victories over Chase Cahill-Welsh of St. Bonaventure (7-5, 3-6, 6-2) and FDU's Benjamin Wrann (6-2, 6-2). He is now 4-2 in fall tournament play.
 
In doubles, senior Niza Simunyola and junior Monil Lotlikar won both of their matches to improve to 5-0 together during fall play. They dominated St. Bonaventure's tandem of Hugo Cochlin and Alex Kim (6-1), then upended FDU's Andrew Nicolae and Joshua Obonye by an equally impressive 6-1 margin. The duo is now 23-8 (.742) as a doubles tandem over the past two seasons.
 
Elsewhere, senior Dustin Ha and sophomore Rayan El khalifi picked up two wins in the Green B Division, knocking off Mary Washington's Fromherz/King duo (6-1) and Mt. St. Mary's Gaonkar/Papayoanou duo (7-5).
 
Next up, the Patriots will travel to the annual ITA Regional, held this season at Old Dominion University. The event is scheduled for Oct. 10-14 in Norfolk, Va.