Men's tennis commences fall with strong play at Farnsworth Invitational

Though the Farnsworth Invitational at the Lenz Tennis Center this past weekend showcased the men's tennis team's individual talent, the Tigers' focus as they commenced the season was on preparing for the matches that will be decided as a team.

"Although tennis may seem like an individual sport, the team most certainly plays best when it functions as a unit," senior Andrew Lieu said. "Playing on a team has played a huge role in my development as an individual tennis player."

Lieu and junior Sratha Saengsuwarn had solid showings in singles play. Lieu defeated No. 8 Nic Brunner of Cornell in a straight-set first-round match, 7-6, 6-2, and then went on to claim a victory against Penn's Brendan O'Gara in three sets, triumphing 6-1 in the third set. His run of wins was halted, however, against top seed Jason Pinsky of Penn in a tough quarterfinal match, 6-1, 6-1.

Saengsuwarn began the tournament with a decisive straight-set win over Tyler Deming and continued with a three-set victory over Yale's Jeff Dawson, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2. Saengsuwarn then fell short to No. 2 Mikhail Bekker of Penn, 6-4, 6-2.

Sophomore Andrew Husby, the No. 7 seed in the tournament's "B" singles play, also displayed some of the shots he hopes will contribute to Princeton's success this season, winning a straight-set quarterfinal match against No. 1 Rory Green of Yale. Husby reached the semifinals of the "B" draw before falling to Penn's Jimmy Fairbanks by a score of 6-7, 7-5, 6-7 in a grueling three-setter. Husby had a relatively easy road to the quarterfinals, winning decisive straight-set matches against Rutgers' Matt Fawcett and St. Joseph's Chris Spencer 6-3, 6-4 apiece.

Freshmen Alex Vuckovic and Alex Krueger-Wyman also managed to reach the round of eight in the 32-player "B" singles bracket. Vuckovic, the No. 8 seed, had a solid victory over Vaidya Arjun of Rutgers, 6-4, 6-4, and proceeded to prevail in three sets over St. Joseph's Patrick Adams, 6-1, 3-6, 7-5. No. 3 Krueger-Wyman began the invitational with a straight-set win over Matt Feldman and went on to overcome St. Joseph's A.J. Garabedian, losing the first set 4-6 but claiming the final two by identical 7-5 scores.

The best doubles performance presented by the Tigers was by the duo seeded second, Hans Plukas and Lieu. They reached the semifinals before falling to Nic Brunner and Josh Raff from Cornell, the eventual main draw champions.

The tournament was the culmination of a lot of hard work and preparation under head coach Glenn Michibata, who has a solid 54-40 record in his five seasons at Princeton's helm.

"We pushed them pretty hard in our early season preparation, and they have all responded well," Michibata said of the intense physical training the team has had to endure.

Though Michibata will certainly take his players' individual results into account, he too emphasized the concept of the team as a crucial factor in the Tigers' success this season.

"The whole team has done a good job as far as effort, and I want to promote the concept of team effort, not highlighting any single person's achievements," Michibata said.