If the men's tennis team actually played basketball, their ntersession road trip would have been quite a formidable itinerary: the Tigers had three matches in as many days against North Carolina State, North Carolina and Duke to open up their spring season.
In the event, the men's tennis team, of course, plays tennis, not basketball. Still, their Tar Heel State opponents proved to be formidable foes, although the Tigers did put in some admirable performances.
Princeton started off with a 5-2 win over NC State on Thursday, Jan. 30. But over the next two days, as the competition got steeper, the Tigers were unable to maintain their momentum, falling to both UNC and Duke to finish the trip 1-2.
The Tigers started off with a bang, clinching the doubles point from the Wolfpack by winning at both first and second doubles.
Sophomore David Gopstein and freshman Darius Craton, in the no. 1 slot, defeated NC State's Val Banada and R.J. Murray. At no. 2, sophomore Josh Burman and junior Tim Kofol defeated Jon Davis and Rehman Esmail.
The Tigers continued their winning streak as Burman, Craton and Kofol all won their singles matches at Nos. 2, 3 and 4, respectively. Junior Daniel Friedman also contributed a win at No. 6. The next day, Princeton took on the No. 26 Tar Heels, who eked out a 4-3 victory over the Tigers.
UNC started off by winning at first doubles, as Trystan Menian and Nicholas Monroe beat Craton and Gopstein, 8-3. Although Princeton's Burman and Kofol won in the No. 2 slot, UNC had already secured the doubles point with Andy Metzler and Daniel Pinchbeck's 8-4 victory over Friedman and freshman Hans Plukas at third doubles.
In singles, senior Trevor Smith, Burman, and Craton lost at Nos. 1, 2, and 3 respectively. Although Plukas, Gopstein, and Friedman, at Nos. 4, 5 and 6, were all victorious in their singles matches, their performances were not enough to put the Tigers over the Tar Heels.
Finally, on Sunday afternoon, the Tigers took on Duke, ranked No. 10 in the nation. The Blue Devils were just too much for Princeton, and the Tigers lost, 7-0. Princeton did have one win over Duke, at first doubles, where Gopstein and Craton beat Duke's Michael Yani and Jonathan Stokke, 8-6. But with no other wins in singles or doubles, the Tigers were unable to collect any points.
Yani is ranked No. 33 nationally and plays at the No. 1 singles spot for Duke, where he defeated Smith, 7-5, 6-0. The Blue Devils' No. 2 singles player, Ludovic Walter, who beat Burman, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, is also nationally ranked – No. 77. The highly ranked Duke provided great competition for the Tigers.
The Tigers will be back in action on Feb. 15, when Old Dominion comes to take on Princeton at Jadwin Gym.
Prior to the North Carolina trip, the Tigers competed at the Harvard Winter Invitational on Jan. 25. The tournament included Ivy foes Harvard, Brown and Dartmouth, as well as Rutgers, Marist, MIT and Williams.
In "A" flight doubles, Friedman and Plukas held four match points against Harvard's David Lingman and Mark Riddell – the No. 1 team in the region – before ultimately falling, 9-8 (5). Also at Harvard, in the "A" flight singles division, Plukas defeated Harvard's Brent Saiontz, Gopstein lost to Brown's Jamie Cerretani. Plukas went on to lose to Brown's Chris Drake in the second round. Friedman lost to Harvard's Jason Beren in the first round of the "B" flight singles division.
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