Tennis: Men, women dominate league foes

The match against Harvard started in Princeton’s favor, as the Tigers won two of three doubles matches to capture what would turn out to be a crucial doubles point. Senior Peter Capkovic followed up his strong doubles performance with a convincing win at No. 1 singles to stake the Tigers out to an early 2-0 lead.

Harvard came back to tie the match at two, however, as Alexei Chijoff-Evans defeated senior Alex Vuckovic at No. 2 singles and Sasha Emakov defeated sophomore Ryan Kim at No. 3 singles. Though both lost in straight sets, Vuckovic narrowly missed forcing a third set after dropping a tiebreak to end the second set. Junior Charlie Brosens continued his consistent play at No. 6 singles by claiming a straight-set victory over Michael Hayes.

The deciding match of the day was at No. 4 singles. After winning the first set 6-2, junior George Carpeni won the second set in a tiebreak and clinched the victory for the Tigers.

Riding the momentum of Friday’s close victory, Princeton came out strong on Saturday en route to a convincing 5-2 win over Dartmouth. The match began in the same way as the Harvard match, with the Tigers winning at the No. 1 and No. 3 doubles positions to win the doubles point.

Princeton then went on to capture four of the six singles matches, with their only losses coming at the No. 3 and No. 6 positions. The Tigers head into their final week of practice before wrapping up their regular season next weekend with matches against Cornell and Columbia.

The women’s tennis team defeated Harvard and Dartmouth last weekend to keep their Ivy League title hopes alive. The No. 46 Tigers (16-7 overall, 4-1 Ivy League) will conclude their regular season with pivotal matches next weekend against Cornell and Columbia.

Harvard swept all three doubles matches to take a 1-0 lead, putting Princeton in an unfamiliar position. The Tigers, however, captured wins in four singles matches to win the match.

Princeton’s lone loss came at No. 1 singles, where freshman Lauren McHale lost to Beier Ko 2-6, 6-3, 6-3. Both junior Melissa Saiontz and sophomore Taylor Marable managed to pull out victories in tightly contested three-set contests. Freshman Rachel Saiontz provided the most convincing victory at No. 3 singles, defeating Agnes Sibilski 6-1, 6-4.

On Saturday, the Tigers came out with a sense of urgency against Dartmouth. Unlike Friday’s Harvard match, Princeton jumped out to a fast start by sweeping the doubles matches.

In singles, the Tigers’ only defeat came at the No. 4 position. Princeton won all the other matches in a fairly convincing fashion, with all of their victories coming in straight sets. As they move into the final week of the regular season, the Tigers sit in a three-way tie with Yale and Brown atop the Ivy League standings.