Stefanos Pournaropoulos Soars to Victory

Giselle Wyche

Sophomore Stefanos Pournaropoulos won the men's singles title at the 2026 Metro Tennis Masters Tournament on Oct. 5, solidifying his status as one of th region's elite players at the collegiate level. The No. 4 seeded native of Thessaloniki, Greece raced past Quinnipiac's No. 3 seed Vishal Prakash on his home courts to earn a historic victory for the Mounts Men's Tennis program.

With the championship win, Pournaropoulos officially earned the Metro Conference's automatic qualifying bid to the 2026 ITA Conference Masters Championships, a competition at the national level that has the potential to supply a direct route to NCAA individual championships.

Instead of playing a full, grinding third set, the Metro Masters utilized the high-stakes 10-poin tiebreaker format. Stefanos won the championship final with an exact scoreline of 4-6, 6-3 and 10-6. 

"I tried to stay calm and not let my emotions change the way I was playing," said Pournaropoulos. Even after losing the first set of the match, Pournaropoulos assured that he managed to keep his composure and work harder to change the outcome. He reminded himself that he didn’t have time to waste complaining, losing his focus or dwelling on negative thoughts. That strategy proved to be helpful, because the momentum shifted heavily after his first-to-10 sprint.

"Last year I played this same tournament losing in the second round," Pournaropoulos exclaimed. "I knew what my goal was for this year and I'm happy I achieved it," he stated excitedly. 

Winning this tournament gives Pournaropoulos an entry bid to play in Rome, Georgia in the ITA Conference Masters Championship. "To be honest, I had this on my mind before the tournament even started," he said. However, his goals did not distract him from his play, instead motivating him, as he "had the chance to play among the best players in each conference."

Pournaropoulos’ advice to younger athletes is to “work hard, work in everything, not just the way they play tennis, but also the mental part of the game.” He wants them to have trust in their coaches and creating a good relationship with them because that is what helped him a lot. 

Pournaropoulos will be back in action from Nov. 5to 8 during his championship match in Georgia.