VILLANOVA, Pa.—In its second tournament of the fall season the Villanova men’s tennis team will stay local this weekend to play in the Saint Joseph’s Invitational from Friday through Sunday. The 12th annual tournament is one of the traditional fall events for the Wildcats and will be contested at the SJU Tennis Complex at the Maguire Campus and on Finnesey Courts in Merion Station, Pa. Action begins at 12:30 p.m. on Friday with first round matches in the singles draw.

This weekend’s tournament consists of four singles flights and two doubles flights. Competition will begin with first round matches, with winners advancing in the bracket and non-advancing players moving into the consolation draw. There are nine teams competing in the tournament, including student-athletes from the host Hawks along with Villanova, Delaware, Drexel, Jefferson, Lehigh, Mary Washington, Morgan State and NJIT.

The first matches to be played will be the first round singles competition in Flight 4 starting at 12:30 p.m. on Friday. Fans who are following the action and who may attend the tournament this weekend are encouraged to visit the Tournament Central page linked in this release for pertinent information on the tournament including parking availability and walking directions to the tennis courts.

Villanova will have all 13 members of its 2021-22 squad competing in the singles draws this weekend while six doubles teams will also be in competition. The tournament will mark the return of the Wildcats most successful doubles tandem from last year as senior Matthew Jones (Dallas, Texas) and sophomore Josh Robinson (Potomac, Md.) team up once again. The pair was 12-5 in doubles matches in the spring and will be playing their first matches of the season together this year.

Junior Alex Kim (Cary, N.C.) and sophomore Ryan Nguyen (Oakton, Va.) team up once again in doubles after they went 2-2 at the Villanova Invitational two weeks ago. Also notable among the Wildcats doubles teams are sophomore Anthony Prokurat (Manalapan, N.J.) and junior Justin Suarez (Manila, Philippines) teaming up for the second straight tournament to open the fall campaign.

Villanova will be represented by Robinson in the top singles flight and he will square off against Nathan Perrone from host Saint Joseph’s in a first round match on Friday. Robinson and Perrone were due to be matched up in the third round of the Villanova Invitational earlier this month but the match was not played. The Wildcats will have two players in Flight 2 singles, three in the Flight 3 bracket and seven in the Flight 4 draw. Each of the team’s first round singles and doubles matches are listed below. Results will be posted following the close of competition each night (Friday-Sunday) during the tournament.