ROME, Ga. – The Gustavus men’s doubles team of Chase Johnson (Sr., Golden Valley, Minn.) and Patrick Whaling (Sr., Manikin Sabot, Va.) posted a comeback victory in their first match at the ITA Cup on Thursday, defeating Jordan Pitts and Wilson Lambeth of Trinity (Texas) 3-6, 6-4, 10-5. Johnson and Whaling, now 10-0 on the season, advance to the semifinals at 12:30 p.m. (CST) Friday where they will face Jonathan Jemison and Adrien Bouchet of Emory, who defeated defending champions Tyler Raclin and Jeremy Yuan of Chicago.
“Patrick and Chase handled the moment beautifully today,” Head Coach Tommy Valentini said. “They played an outstanding team from Trinity that came out firing. The guys stayed the course, trusted their plan and each other, and got themselves into the match. They stayed very positive in the big moments and at 5-5 in the breaker they embraced the moment and came up big. We’re grateful for a fun result today, but I’m most impressed by how well they stayed positive, competed, and continued to trust no matter the circumstances. We look forward to another big challenge tomorrow.”