Longwe-Smit, Thomas-Smith Win 2 Matches Apiece on Day 2 of Elon Invite

Liberty Flames men’s tennis players Thando Longwe-Smit and Deji Thomas-Smith won two matches apiece on the second day of competition at the Elon Fall Invitational, Saturday.

Longwe-Smit’s two victories came in the quarterfinals and semifinals at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center. The Flames redshirt junior will play for a championship in the Gold singles flight, Sunday. Meanwhile, Thomas-Smith’s triumphs came in the consolation bracket of the Maroon singles draw. The Liberty junior will play in a backdraw title match on Sunday morning.  

Key Stats & Notes

• Liberty posted a 4-1 record in singles today and did not compete in doubles. In two days of action, the Flames sport a 6-2 singles mark and are 1-3 in doubles.

• Longwe-Smit, who improved to 6-0 this fall with his pair of victories, defeated Elon’s Estaban Penagos 6-3, 6-3 in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, he bested Edson Sanchez of James Madison in straight sets (6-4, 6-1) to bolster his singles record this weekend to 3-0.

• Each of Longwe-Smit’s three singles victories in the last two days came in straight sets.

• Longwe-Smit will face Radford’s Dinos Raptis in tomorrow’s Gold singles draw final at 10:45 a.m.

• Thomas-Smith won his first match of the day over the North Carolina A&T Aggies’ Vasil Ivanov in three sets, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 1-0 (10-6). His second victory came in the afternoon versus Emil Westling of Furman, 6-3, 6-0.

• Thomas-Smith will square off with Elon’s Daniel Martin in the consolation final of the Maroon singles draw at 10:45 a.m., Sunday.

• Liberty senior Zion Heaven fell in his only singles contest today. Heaven lost to UNC Asheville’s Brann Reid 7-6 (5), 6-1 in the quarterfinal round of the Maroon singles flight.

Up Next

The third and final day of Elon Invitational will features doubles finals beginning at 9 a.m., followed by singles finals.