Tennis: Capkovic strong against Yale, Brown, but Tigers winless on weekend

On Friday, Princeton got off to a slow start by losing the doubles point after Yale claimed victories in all three matches. The Tigers rebounded with a strong singles effort, only to fall one match short of capturing a victory. Senior Peter Capkovic was the only Tiger to win in straight sets at the No. 1 position, while sophomore Ryan Kim and junior Charlie Brosens pulled out tough three-set victories at the No. 3 and No. 6 positions, respectively.

“After losing the doubles point, we got the momentum in most of the singles matches” head coach Glenn Michibata said. “We won the first sets at No. 1 (Peter), No. 3 (Ryan), No. 4 (George). At No. 2 ([senior] Alex Vuckovic), we had a set point, and at No. 5 ([sophomore] Alex Faust), we were up a break late in the set.”

The deciding factor in the match occurred at the No. 4 singles spot, where junior George Carpeni dropped a heartbreaking three-set decision, 4-6, 7-5, 6-4. While last week featured the Tigers gutting out a tough 4-3 victory, this week the Orange and Black fell short by the same margin. Princeton ultimately suffered from an inability to maintain the momentum that it established at the start of singles play.

“Unlike against Penn, we were unable to sustain our singles momentum. Peter, Ryan and Charlie closed out their matches, but the other three lost their leads,” Michibata said.

On Saturday, Princeton fell into a similar hole by dropping the doubles point after falling at the first and third positions. Again, Capkovic captured a victory at first singles, this time prevailing in a tough three-set duel.

It was the middle of the lineup that again was the turning point in the match. With the match score at 3-2 in favor of Brown, Kim and Carpeni were caught in extended duels at the third and fourth positions. Kim took the first set, dropped the second and lost the match in a third-set tiebreak. After falling in the first set 6-3, Carpeni rebounded to take the second set 6-1, only to falter in the third. Despite having a chance to take the match at the end, Princeton entered the match at a disadvantage as a result of injuries.

“Charlie Brosens, who has the best winning percentage on the team, has a shoulder injury that prevented him from playing on back-to-back days this weekend,” Michibata said.

“George Carpeni was able to play despite some shoulder issues but had to modify his strategy. He pushed his match to three sets but ultimately, the limitations he was under was too much to overcome.”

After suffering a heartbreaking 4-3 setback to Yale, the women’s tennis team rebounded by defeating Brown 6-1 to earn a weekend split. Though that first Ivy League loss is always hard to swallow, the Tigers (14-7 overall, 2-1 Ivy League) put it behind them to come out with a strong effort against Brown.

Princeton got off to a fast start by capturing the doubles point on the strength of victories at the No. 1 and No. 3 positions. The Tigers then built on their lead when freshman Rachel Saiontz captured a straight-sets victory at No. 5 singles.

It was all Yale from that point on, however, as the Bulldogs clinched the match by capturing the next four matches before freshman Hilary Bartlett could tack on a three-set victory.

Three of the six singles matches went to a third set, and while Bartlett emerged victorious, sophomores Taylor Marable and Blakely Ashley fell 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 and 6-2, 2-6, 6-4, respectively.

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When Princeton opened the next day by dropping the doubles point, it appeared as if the Yale loss weighed heavily on the shoulders of the players. The Tigers surged back, however, capturing all six of the singles matches en route to a convincing 6-1 victory.

Only freshman Lauren McHale’s match at No. 1 singles went to a third set, with the rest of the team winning in straight sets. The Tigers will resume Ivy League play next weekend on the road against Harvard and Dartmouth.