Capkovic, Saiontz lead Tigers in tournament

The men's and women's tennis teams entered the opening weekend of the season with two nationally ranked singles players. Both Tigers lived up to their billing, as No. 82 junior Peter Capkovic and No. 98 sophomore Melissa Saiontz led the men's and women's teams to a semifinal appearance and a victory in the consolation round, respectively. The rest of the Tigers also had solid weekends at three different tournaments.

"We sent a powerful message to other Ivy League teams and showed once again that we are the favorites for the Ivy League title," Capkovic said. The men competed at the University of Virginia Fall Invitational, as well as the Navy Invitational in Maryland, while the women unpacked their rackets at the William and Mary Invitational in Virginia.

Sophomore George Carpeni and junior Alex Vuckovic each reached the semifinals of their brackets to accompany Capkovic at the UVa Invitational. The Tigers won seven of their eight first-day matches.

"The Virginia tournament was very strong. Some of the best players in the country were competing there, including the NCAA No. 1 player," Capkovic said.

Despite the strength of the participating teams, Princeton's only loss came in the quarterfinals of the "green" bracket. Junior Alex Krueger-Wyman battled through three sets, all of which were decided by tiebreakers. After several match points, Krueger-Wyman lost the final tiebreaker, 13-11.

As for the victories, Capkovic won two matches, 6-2, 6-4 and 6-4, 6-4 to advance to the semifinals. Capkovic entered the tournament as the No. 3 seed in his bracket, as did Carpeni, who also breezed through the first round and quarterfinals to reach the next day's semifinals. Vuckovic followed suit in the "orange" bracket.

Though all three lost in the semifinals, they faced tough opponents, including Radford's Martin Sayer, the No. 26 player, who defeated Capkovic in three sets, 4-6, 6-3 and 6-4; Vuckovic lasted to a third-set tiebreaker. Both Capkovic and Carpeni, who lost in straight sets, fought minor injuries in their defeats.

"The scoreboard would suggest that it was a bad day, but the performances were very good, and all losses were against strong opponents," Capkovic explained. "All of us in Virginia saw that our program is heading the right way and that we can compete with the best teams in the nation."

Meanwhile, in Annapolis, sophomore Ilya Trubov echoed Princeton's Virgina success with a dominating weekend performance of his own. As the No. 7 seed, Trubov chalked up three consecutive victories to come away with the championship in his bracket. His finals match against Oklahoma's Joe Wiggins came down to a third-set tiebreaker, which Trubov won, 10-8.

Trubov's success didn't stop at singles, though, as he paired with junior Jeff Luse to cruise into the doubles finals. Wiggins once again stood in the way of the championship, this time with teammate Jeremy New, but the Princeton duo took the title, 8-6.

On the women's side, Saiontz and senior Ivan King each lost only one match on the way to consolation victories in the "A" and "B" brackets at the William and Mary Invitational. Saiontz crushed Duke's Melissa Mang in straight sets to win her final, 6-1, 6-4, while King won in three sets against the third seed, Marshall's Karolina Soor.

Junior Kelly Stewart turned in the best Princeton finish in the main draws, placing second in her bracket. Stewart rolled through her semifinal match without dropping a game to earn her spot in the finals.

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"In the fall tournaments, it's all about improving and looking forward to the spring," Stewart said. "I try to take risks on the court that will make me a better player in the future. Sometimes you win matches that way."

Despite competing against strong opponents after only one week of practice, each Tiger won at least one match, including junior Kristen Scott and sophomore Blakely Ashley, who advanced to the quarterfinals of their respective brackets.

Next weekend, the women will visit Penn for the Cissie Leary Invitational, while the men will hold their first tournament of the year, the Farnsworth/Princeton Invitational, at home.