Despite having graduated four seniors from the 2024 season, Princeton’s Men’s Tennis team seems to have significantly improved this season. Over the past few weeks, several Tigers have competed in Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) competition, and a few of them have done brilliantly.
“We have great team leadership, and we are now a much more battle-tested and older group,” Men’s Tennis Head Coach Billy Pate told The Daily Princetonian.
Princeton’s success this season started on the doubles court at the ITA Men’s All-American Championships in Tulsa, OK. A pair of Tigers made the trip southwest for the tournament, hoping to reach the semifinals, which would earn them doubles qualification to the NCAA Individual Championships. Juniors Landon Ardila and Paul Inchauspe took to the courts and did just that.
In their opening match, the pair didn’t drop a set, winning 7–6 (1), 6–4 against Tulsa University. However, as they progressed to the round of 16, the level of competition increased. Ardila and Inchauspe faced a fierce challenge against a team from Ohio State, where they lost the first set in a lengthy tiebreaker. The Tigers then responded by winning the second set comfortably, pulling out a thrilling 10-point super tiebreaker win, 6–7 (10), 6–3, 10–8.
The pair’s final challenge to achieve qualification was against another Big Ten opponent, this time a duo from Michigan State University. The teams split the first two sets in comfortable fashion, but the Tigers’ experience and consistency propelled them to victory in yet another super tiebreaker, beating the Spartans 6–3, 1–6, 10–5.
Although Ardila and Inchauspe went on to drop their semifinal match against Wake Forest, the doubles pair got what they needed in Tulsa: three wins and the consequent qualification to the NCAA championships.
“I will be practicing hard until [the NCAA Championships] to feel confident in my game and ready to take on the best college players,” Inchauspe told the ‘Prince.’ “It is a very exciting challenge and I look forward to competing there.”
On the singles side, the Orange and Black were even more successful. The Tigers had eight players qualify for the singles main draw of the ITA Northeast Regional Championships. Junior Aleksandar Mitric and first-year Sawyer Severance both won their opening matches but fell in the round of 32. However, four other Tigers had much more success, making up half of the participants in the quarterfinals.
Among the Tigers to reach the final eight were Inchauspe, junior Evan Wen, and seniors Sebastian Sec and Fnu Nidunjianzan. However, due to the number of Tigers who reached this point in the Northeast Regionals, a pair of matches featured only Princeton participants. In order to advance, the Tigers would have to defeat their own teammates.
In the quarterfinals, Nidunjianzan defeated Wen in a decisive, 6–2, 6–0 victory. In the following round, he’d go on to best another Tiger, Sec, in straight sets. With this win, he earned his spot in the top two and qualified for the NCAA Individual Championships.
As for Inchauspe, he cruised in his quarterfinal and semifinal matches. He did not drop a set in either match and comfortably earned his own spot in the final two along with Nidunjianzan, while also qualifying for the NCAA’s.
“It’s a great accomplishment to have two singles and one doubles team as participants in the NCAA Singles and Doubles championship for the second year in a row,” Pate said. “It bodes well for what we can achieve… However, we must stay healthy and stay focused on the process of improvement throughout the year if we are to realize our potential.”
Notably, four Tigers competed in singles at the Ivy League Individual championships, with sophomore Meecah Bigun going the furthest by reaching the quarterfinals. Additionally, Mitric and Wen paired up and reached the doubles quarterfinals.
Princeton still has a lot to play for, and if the first few ITA tournaments are any indication of what is to come, Men’s Tennis should see a lot of success in the near future. Looking ahead, the Orange and Black will host the Farnsworth Invitational beginning this Friday.
“Coming off a 2nd round appearance in the NCAA tournament last year, and based on the experience we were returning [with], the team set lofty expectations going into the year,” Pate said. “I believe the success to this point is a result of their commitment and hard work in reaching those goals.”
The NCAA Individual Championships will take place from November 18–23 in Lake Nona, FL.
Lucas Nor is a Sports staff writer for the ‘Prince.’
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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