Tennis: Princeton loses title showdown

Princeton entered the weekend undefeated in league play and extended its winning streak by defeating Columbia (8-14, 2-4) on Friday in the home finale, 5-2. The Tigers got off to a slow start against the Lions, falling behind 1-0 after losing the doubles point. Columbia took a 2-0 lead after freshman Dan Richardson quickly fell to Tizian Bucher, 6-4, 6-3.

But Princeton rallied, as sophomore Matt Siow easily disposed of Cyril Bucher 6-0, 6-3. Sophomore Matija Pecotic continued his undefeated conference run in singles by defeating Haig Schneiderman in straight sets 6-4, 6-2. Sophomore Matt Spindler’s three set victory over Nathaniel Gery set up freshman Augie Bloom to clinch the match with a hard-fought victory over John Yetimoglu 6-3, 6-7(3), 7-6(7). Senior captain Alex Faust concluded the match with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 defeat of Rajeev Deb-Sen.

The victory over the Lions set up a match of undefeated teams on Sunday as the Tigers traveled to Ithaca, N.Y., to take on No. 50 Cornell (23-4, 6-0). With an Ivy League championship in their sights and a place in the NCAA Tournament on the line, the Tigers fought the Big Red in a tightly contested match at which Princeton ultimately fell short by one point.

Princeton found itself in a battle early, as Cornell won the doubles point but needed tiebreakers on two courts to do so. The Big Red built on its lead with Evan Bernstein’s 6-2, 6-1 victory over Richardson. Bloom countered by beating Mirza Klis 6-2, 2-6, 6-1 to put the Tigers on the board.

Cornell refused to let the opportunity to clinch its first league title slip away, however, as Andy Gauthier defeated Spindler 6-3, 7-6(5) before Jeremy Feldman clinched the match with a 7-6, 6-4 victory over Siow. Faust defeated Evan McElwain 6-1, 1-6, 7-6(0) to win the final Ivy League match of his career, while Pecotic battled back from losing the second set to beat Jonathan Jaklistch 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 and complete a perfect 7-0 Ivy League season at first singles.

With its victory, Cornell clinched at least a share of its first Ivy League title. The Big Red still have to play Columbia next weekend, and a victory over the Lions would take a share of the league championship away from the Tigers. Regardless of its result against Columbia, Cornell will head to the NCAA Tournament as the Ivy League representative, as it now owns the head-to-head tiebreaker over Princeton.

The No. 50 women’s tennis team (12-9, 5-2) also concluded league play this weekend with matches against Columbia and Cornell. The Tigers defeated Columbia (9-13, 0-7) 4-3 on Friday before taking down Cornell (9-11, 1-6) 6-1 on Sunday to finish the season with a winning conference record for the eighth straight year.

After sweeping the doubles point, Princeton quickly disposed of the Lions by winning three of the first four singles matches. Freshman Katherine Flanigan defeated Tiana Takenaga in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2, before junior Hilary Bartlett beat Nicole Bartnik 6-3, 6-1. Senior Taylor Marable clinched the match with a 6-3, 7-6(4) victory over Natasha Makarova.

The Tigers dominated the Big Red on Sunday, winning the doubles point and the top five singles matches. Bartlett, Flanigan and Marable were victorious again, as were sophomore Monica Chow and junior Rachel Saiontz.

The victory over Cornell was Marable’s final collegiate match of her career, and she went out on a winning note, earning victories on both the doubles and singles courts.

Yale and Dartmouth currently lead the Ivy League with 5-1 records. If both lose their final matches, the conference standings would end in a five-way tie that would also involve Princeton, Brown and Harvard.