Rodriguez prevails for men's tennis as Tigers host ITA Tournament

After five days of grueling matches, the ITA Northeast Regional Championship nears its end. The finals for both the singles and doubles competitions will be held Tuesday at Lenz Tennis Center.

Of the original 11 competitors from Princeton, only sophomore Damian Rodriguez remained in singles competition on Monday. Harvard’s Andy Zhou defeated Rodriguez in the singles quarterfinal, 7–6(5), 6–2.

Matches began last Thursday, but players quickly had to relocate to Jadwin Gymnasium and alternate indoor courts due to rain. First-years Bill Duo and Will Peters both won two consecutive matches to qualify for the main draw singles event. Duo defeated Matthew Johnson from SUNY Buffalo 6–1, 5–7, (10–3) and Diego Huttepain of West Point 6–2, 7–5. Peters won his matches against Monmouth’s Austin Klapman 6–2, 3–6, (12–10) and Drexel’s Youssef Lahlou 6–1, 6–2.

On Friday, Princeton performed strongly in the singles bracket round of 128. Duo beat Max Green from Fordham 6–3, 6–4. Fellow main-draw qualifier Peters also won his match, convincingly defeating Yale’s Dylan King 6–0, 6–2. However, Princeton also suffered its first loss in the tournament. Senior Jimmy Wasserman lost to Cornell’s Jake Hansen; Hansen won 6–0, 6–2. In the doubles bracket, the first-year team of Justin Barki and Duo defeated David Gorshein and David Mitchell of West Point 8–2. Princeton’s team of junior captain Payton Holden and first-year Karl Poling lost to Srdjan Jakovljevic and Will Cooke Wharton from Monmouth. Junior captain Davey Roberts, sophomores Damian Rodriguez and Ryan Seggerman, and first-year Karl Poling had byes in the first round. In the doubles bracket, the sophomore team of Rodriguez and Seggerman had a bye.

Princeton played brilliantly Saturday, with wins across the board for the singles and doubles competitors. All six remaining Princeton players won their respective matches. Seggerman, Rodriguez, Duo, Poling, Roberts, and Peters advanced through the singles round of 64. Meanwhile, both of Princeton’s remaining doubles teams advanced past the round of 16 with two wins.

Sunday’s schedule included two rounds of singles matches and the doubles quarterfinals. Rodriguez was Princeton’s only singles player who won both matches on Sunday, and he advanced to the quarterfinals. However, the competition continued to grow more difficult, and Princeton’s match results reflected this difficulty. In the round of 32, Duo fell to Harvard’s Andy Zhou, and Roberts lost to Penn’s Kyle Mautner. Poling was incapacitated due to illness and unfortunately could not play. Seggerman and Peters both won their first matches but lost to Columbia’s Jackie Tang and Dartmouth’s Charlie Broom respectively in the round of 16. Both matches were extremely close. In doubles, Princeton’s team of Barki and Duo lost to top-seeded Jack Lin and William Matheson from Columbia. Princeton’s Rodriguez and Seggerman defeated Penn’s Kyle Mautner and Dmitry Shatalin 8–6, advancing to the semifinals.

On Monday, Rodriguez and Seggerman lost to Columbia’s Lin and Matheson, the national No. 8 team that defeated Barki and Duo on Sunday. Lin and Matheson won 6–4, 6–4.