Men's tennis drops two key matches on the road

The men's tennis team's high hopes for the Ivy League title were smothered this weekend as they fell to Yale and Brown. Going in with expectations of ousting Yale before encountering a greater challenge in Brown, Princeton (11-7 overall, 2-2 Ivy League) ironically fared better against the Bears, but still recorded two disappointing losses.

Their 5-2 loss to Yale (6-9, 1-2) Friday taught the Tigers not to prowl Bulldog territory without their full-strength lineup. Princeton's No. 2, sophomore Josh Burman, did not compete in either matches this weekend.

Nevertheless, with the depth of its lineup and its strong results throughout the season, Princeton expected to come away with victory over the Elis, as it did last year, 5-2.

Instead, history was reversed. Yale took the lead from the start, sweeping all three doubles matches and proceeding to win four of the six singles matches.

"We didn't come out playing our best in the doubles, which has been our strength all year, and then ultimately fell just short in the singles," sophomore David Gopstein said.

At Nos. 3 and 4 singles, respectively, junior Daniel Friedman and freshman Andrew Lieu earned Princeton its only two points on the scoreboard. Lieu came away with a 7-6, 6-3 win. Friedman's win took three sets, but still did not go the distance. His opponent, Adil Shamasdin, retired at 3-5 in the final set.

Yale's points were primarily earned in straight-set victories. However, the Bulldogs were tested at No. 1 singles, where senior captain Trevor Smith battled through three sets, ultimately falling in a tiebreaker, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6.

After boosting its unimpressive record with a win over Princeton, Yale proceeded to lose to Penn (9-7, 1-3) Saturday, 4-3. The Tigers had defeated Penn, 6-1, only one week earlier.

No R&R

The Tigers had little time to recover from this disappointing loss to Yale before they stepped on the court Saturday to face a fiercer opponent in Brown (14-2, 2-0), ranked No. 42 nationally by collegetennisonline.com.

This match marked an opportunity for Princeton to avenge its loss to Yale and remain in contention for the Ivy League title. The high stakes visibly raised the intensity of competition and the outcome was far from certain.

Princeton took charge at the start by earning the doubles point with tight wins at Nos. 1 and 3. The freshman duo of Andrew Lieu and Hans Plukas at No. 3 salvaged several match points for the opponents' before ultimately winning, 8-5.

"It was great to win in the face of a large Brown crowd," Lieu said. His victory with Plukas was especially sweet because it marked the first time Brown lost the doubles point, after 18 consecutive wins, in dual matches this year.

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The No. 1 doubles match was won by Friedman and freshman Darius Craton.

The Tigers continued to keep the pressure high on their opponents by winning half of the six first sets in singles. But Brown succeeded in clinching the match, 4-3, by sweeping Nos. 2 through 5 singles.

At No. 4 singles, Lieu was not able to fend off his opponent's match point as he had in doubles and lost, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

"I had a tough opponent who came up with some big shots," Lieu said. "Just a few points here and there cost me the match.

Smith and Gopstein, who lost together at No. 2 doubles, rebounded in singles to end the day on a positive note for the team. despite the overall loss to Brown. At No. 6, Gopstein won 4-6, 6-4, 1-0 (4), and Smith grinded out a gruelling three-set victory, 7-6, 5-7, 6-4.

The Tigers will again face Ivy League opponents next weekend with big games at home against Harvard and Dartmouth.