El Kadi, Marques Da Silva Combine for 4-0 Singles Record at Elon Invite, Saturday

Omar El Kadi and Rafael Marques Da Silva of the Liberty Flames men’s tennis team combined for a perfect 4-0 singles mark on the second day of the Elon Invitational, Saturday.

El Kadi’s pair of wins at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center were the first two singles victories of his Liberty career. Marques Da Silva’s two triumphs put him in tomorrow’s Maroon singles draw championship match.

Key Stats & Notes

• El Kadi, competing in the backdraw of the Phoenix singles flight, topped UNCG’s Cooper Wyett in his first match, 5-7, 7-6, 6-0.

• El Kadi bested North Carolina A&T’s Eder Blanco 6-3, 6-1 in the consolation semifinals. He will move on to Sunday’s consolation final. El Kadi holds a 2-1 singles record this weekend.

• Marques Da Silva needed three sets to win both of his matches on Saturday. The sophomore from São Paulo, Brazil defeated Nicholas Campbell of Elon 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 in his quarterfinal bout.

• In his Saturday afternoon semifinal matchup with Charlotte’s Thomas Brown, Marques Da Silva prevailed in dramatic fashion, winning a tiebreaker in the third set to claim the match (6-4, 3-6, 7-6).

• Marques Da Silva, who is 3-0 in singles competition this weekend, is seeking to become the second Flame this fall to win a singles title. Last weekend, sophomore Goncalo Ferreira won his first career singles crown at the Duke James Bonk Invite in Cary, N.C.

Up Next

The third and final day of the Elon Fall Invitational will begin tomorrow at 9 a.m. with the final round of doubles, followed by the final round of singles. Marques Da Silva and El Kadi will face UNCG’s Nico Grewe and Alexander Zuckerman in the third place match of the Phoenix doubles division.

Sunday

Final round of doubles – 9 a.m. start

Final round of singles