ELON, N.C. – The Elon University men's tennis team hosts its first home match of the season at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center on Sunday against North Carolina Central. The contest will start at 1 p.m. 
 
COVERAGE

• The match will begin with doubles at 1 p.m. and will continue with singles shortly after. 
• Admission to the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center is free. 
• Live stats for Sunday's match can be accessed here.
• Other updates during the match will be provided by the program's Twitter account, @ElonMTennis. 

 
SERIES HISTORY VS. NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL

• Elon is 4-0 all-time against North Carolina Central. 
• The Phoenix won the last meeting between the teams 7-0 on April 18, 2021. 
• Elon is 3-0 against the Eagles in home matches, including the last time they met at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center on Feb. 8, 2020. 

 
ABOUT THE PHOENIX

• The Phoenix enters this match with an 0-2 record on the season. 
• Elon is coming off a strong spring in which it went 15-9 and finished as the runner-up at the CAA Championship.
• Among the returnees is Nicholas Campbell, the Most Outstanding Player at the CAA Tournament and an All-CAA second-team singles selection.
• Others include senior Nicholas Condos; juniors Daniel Martin (All-CAA second team in singles and doubles), Luke Queiroz and Ben Zipay; and sophomore Esteban Penagos.
• The Phoenix welcomes three freshmen in Oskar Antinheimo, Veljko Krstic and Jake Pettingell. Antinheimo, from Helsinki, earned a UTR rating of 12 and has been ranked as high as No. 483 in the ITF Junior Rankings in singles play. A native of Belgrade, Serbia, Krstic has been ranked as high as No. 175 in the ITF Junior Rankings in both singles and doubles. Pettingell, from Sarasota, Fla., achieved a top USTA ranking of No. 22 in the state of Florida. Elon also adds Ahmed Hosni for the spring season. A native of Cairo, Egypt, Hosni has been ranked as high as No. 197 in the ITF Junior Rankings and reached two ITF Junior singles finals in 2022.  
• Elon is led by Michael Leonard, who is beginning his 19th season at the helm.

LAST TIME OUT

• The Phoenix fell 4-3 on the road against Rice on Jan. 27.
• Daniel Martin earned Elon's first singles victory of the season with a 6-3, 6-4 result against Rice's Dylan Heap in the No. 1 spot.
• Freshman Ahmed Hosni overcame a 4-0 deficit in the opening set to win 7-6, 6-3 on Court 5 against Kabeer Kapasi for the first singles victory of his career.
• In the No. 6 position, Oskar Antinheimo battled win in a match tiebreaker for his first career dual singles victory. The freshman won the first set in a tiebreak but dropped the second 5-7. He raced out to an early lead in the match tiebreaker and held on to win it, 10-8. 
• Veljko Krstic made his dual singles debut for the Phoenix, falling 6-0, 6-3 against Emir Sendogan in the No. 3 position. 

 
MIGHTY MARTIN

• Martin's singles victory against Rice was his 18^th since the start of last season, the most of any Elon player during that span.
• The win was his first at the No. 1 position, as his previous 17 wins came at the Nos. 2, 3 and 5 spots. 
• The junior has won nine of his last 11 completed singles contests dating back to last season. Eight of those wins have come in straight sets. 

 
SCOUTING NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL

• The Eagles enter with an 0-2 record, with the losses coming against No. 18 North Carolina and No. 20 Duke. 
• North Carolina Central is still looking for their first victory in both singles and doubles this season. 
• The Eagles are led by head coach D. Curtis Lawson, who is in his second stint with the program. 

 
UP NEXT
Elon returns to the road to face Campbell on Feb. 7 at 2 p.m.