Tennis looks for Ivy success

Following a strong 2015 campaign that featured several wins over highly ranked teams in the nation, the 2016 Princeton men’s tennis team is poised for a great season this year. Last year, the team was able to post impressive results early on, winning the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) title, as well as putting forth some strong, competitive fights in tournaments such as the Blue Gray Tennis classic.

Following the first ECAC triumph, an eight match winning streak in winter contests, and a slew of home wins against Big Ten powerhouses Indiana and Penn State, it sure seemed like the Tigers were real, genuine contenders for the spring Ivy League season. Unfortunately, in a sport decided by a mere handful of points here and there, the tennis team did not fare as well as it would have liked, finishing Ivy League play with a disappointing, but misleading, 2-5 record.

After beginning the season with commanding 4-1 wins over Brown and Yale, the Tigers began a trend that continued over the most of the rest of the season: losing close matches. Beginning with a 4-2 loss against Dartmouth, and two heartbreaking 4-3 losses against Penn and Cornell, the Tigers put themselves right in position to be at the top of the Ivy League, but fell just a little short. For example, against Penn, three of six singles matches went to third set tiebreakers.

Given last season’s anguish, the Tigers are hungrier than ever to redeem themselves, and they sure have the firepower to do so.Former captain and current senior Thomas Colautti remains positive after last year, saying “last year we lost a few close matches at the end of the season which really put a dampener on the season overall. Had some of those matches swung our way we probably would've made the NCAA tournament and would've looked back at the season as a success.However, Coach Pate is a big picture kind of coach and he had a great perspective. He told us that although the last matches were a big disappointment for us, the rest of the season had lots of positives, including some wins against top 30 teams. So we should take a lot of confidence from those and instead learn from the tough losses that we suffered.”

With no seniors regularly playing in the starting lineup, the tennis team returns its now seasoned veterans and welcomes a standout class of new freshmen that includes Payton Holden, Eduardo Paz, and Davey Roberts. Each brings a unique set of tournament experiences and all are prepared to be part of the program this year. Holden commented on the what he believes the recruiting class will add this year: “I think with Davey and I, and Eduardo coming in, we all bring something special that will help the team this year.”

The fall season is busy mostly with individual events, beginning with the Hall of Fame ITA grass court invitational, followed by two major events at home, the Ivy-plus invitational and Farnsworth Invitational. Last year, the Tigers did well in these tournaments, with Colautti capturing the top singles flight at the Ivy-plus tournament while the Farnsworth invitational saw some success in the back draw.

When the dual meet season starts up in the winter, the crucial doubles point will be worth looking after. Day and Gamble are almost certainly going to stick together and compete at the No. 1 spot given their recent success. The two are in fact set to All American doubles event in October, which is a tournament made up of the top 32 doubles teams in the country. As for the rest of the team, Colautti says, “we will try to use the fall to experiment a bit with pairings to see who plays well with each other so again we will have to wait and see who will end up playing doubles in January.”

Though the captains have not yet been elected, eight of twelve players are upperclassmen, and the team will unquestionably be in good hands. The premier event of the fall is the ITA/USTA Regionals hosted in New Haven. With strong leadership and an enthusiastic class of freshmen, things are only looking up for the tennis team this year.