Men's tennis falls to Lions before beating Big Red in tight match

It had been a long contest and an even longer match.

But it still was not over for men's tennis. It was still possible for Cornell or Princeton to win the set, and with it the entire match and contest.

The fate of the match came down to one player, freshman Daniel Friedman, the No. 6 singles player.

Matched up against Julien Cheng of Cornell, Friedman won the first set 7-6. Cheng came back with a fury in the second set, however, notching a 6-1 win.

The last set was a battle. Both players knew what was on the line. They were both exhausted — the air was thick in their lungs and their legs were getting heavier by the second.

In spite of his fatigue, Friedman fought his way through the final set to win, 6-2.

With Friedman's victory, Princeton sealed the win over Cornell with a final score of 4-3.

Friedman was not the only Princeton player to claw his way through a close match at the Reis Tennis Center on Sunday. Senior Kyle Kliegerman, playing in the number one singles spot, defeated Cornell's Mike Halperin 6-4, 7-6.

Junior Judson Williams also came away victorious, defeating Chris Lewis in the number two singles spot. Williams earned the match win in two sets, slaughtering his Big Red competitor 6-1, 6-2. Sophomore Trevor Smith, freshman Tim Kofol, and senior John Portlock failed to top their Cornell opponents.

Princeton, however, earned the doubles point when the teams of Williams-Kofol and Friedman and Hendrik Chasse won their matches.

At home against Columbia on Friday, the Tigers did not enjoy the same favorable outcome.

Williams, Kofol and Friedman, playing in the two, five, and six singles spots, respectively, all won their matches. However, Kliegerman, Smith, and Portlock lost extremely close matches, all of which went to three sets.

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Columbia's Oscar Chow defeated Kliegerman 7-5, 4-6, 6-4. Donny Opici defeated Smith 7-6, 4-6, 6-4, and Peter Holik defeated Portlock 6-3, 4-6, 7-5.

Though Kliegerman and Portlock won the number one doubles match, the Tigers dropped the other two doubles matches. In the end, Columbia won the close contest, 4-3.

With their split weekend, the Tigers brought their record to 9-9 on the season and 3-3 in the Ivy League. Princeton's next contest, and final Ivy League match will be at home against Penn this Saturday.