Emory sophomore Eric Halpern saw his stay at the NCAA Division III Men's Tennis Singles Championships come to an end on Thursday as he dropped an opening-round match to Kenyon College senior Paul Burgin.   Burgin, the No. 5 seed in the 32-player field, advanced to the Round of 16 following a 6-2, 6-3 verdict over Halpern.

Burgin got out of the blocks quickly, racing out to a 3-0 lead before Halpern held serve to narrow the deficit to 1-3.  After each player held their serves over the next three games, Burgin closed out the initial set by breaking Halpern.

Halpern dropped the first two games of the second set before regrouping and knotting things up at 2-2.  Serving at 3-4, Halpern fought off a double-break point and a subsequent pair of break points before seeing Burgin move ahead by a 5-3 margin, whereupon he held serve to close out the match.

The Emory doubles team of senior Elliot Kahler and Ian Wagner open play later today at approximately 6:00 pm when they battle the Case Western duo of John Healey and Nicolas Howe.