1980.
That was the last time the Tigers had an individual in the NCAA men’s tennis singles championship.
45 years later, junior sensation Paul Inchauspe — ranked No. 18 in the ITA rankings — is back in the final four after beating No. 92 Luca Pow of Wake Forest in the singles championships in Orlando, Florida. He now stands one win away from becoming the first Princeton player ever to compete for an NCAA singles title.
“I am happy and proud for Paul, it’s such a big achievement to be a part of the NCAAs and to have the kind of week he’s having,” Lief Shiras ’81 wrote to The Daily Princetonian.
In 1980, Shiras reached the semifinals before falling to USC’s Robert Van’t Hof. He has been a longtime commentator at Tennis Channel after a nine-year tennis career.
“I’m super pumped to be in the Final Four,” Inchauspe said to the 'Prince'. “I’ve put in a lot of hard work recently in order to perform at this tournament.”
Inchauspe now faces Columbia’s Michael Zheng, the defending NCAA champion and the No. 1 ranked singles player in the country.
“We all know [Inchauspe] wants more,” Shiras wrote. “This is what we all play for, the chance to win — win for yourself, sure, but also the team, the school.”
The road to the Final Four wasn’t easy for Inchauspe, who was four games away from losing in the first round of the tournament. Playing Arizona’s Sasha Rozin in the Round of 64, Inchauspe dropped the first set 6–0 and was down 2–0 in the second set.
“This week, I’ve had a lot of tough battles,” Inchauspe said. “Weeks like this show just how good all of our trainers and how well prepared we are.”
Despite this, Inchauspe forced a tiebreaker and won the second set before ultimately winning the decisive third set 7–5. He did the same in the Round of 32, dropping the first set against UC Santa Barbara’s Lucca Liu before battling back to win the next two.
“The first two matches were tough for me, I didn’t play my best tennis, but I also just kept believing that I could win and I kept fighting till the last point,” Inchauspe said.
After qualifying for the Sweet 16, Inchauspe earned ITA All-American honors for the second straight season. Last year, the road for Inchauspe ended in this round following a defeat to Florida State’s Corey Craig. This year, he was determined to make it even further.
“The most important part of his development has been how he approaches each day in a professional manner and with purpose,” Head Coach Billy Pate wrote to the 'Prince'. “He’s highly ritualized with his preparation and takes nothing for granted.”
In the Round of 16, he made quick work of Georgia’s William Jansen to qualify for the quarterfinals. In doing so, he earned his spot in the 2026–27 Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Next Gen Accelerator Program. The program is a pathway created by the ATP — the organization that runs the men’s professional tennis tour around the world — to give elite NCAA Division I tennis players direct access to professional tournaments after college.
“Qualifying for the Next Gen Accelerator Program is huge,” Inchauspe said. “The ultimate goal is to play pro once I graduate from Princeton. Having access to those challenger level tournaments is great and I’m super excited to play those starting this summer.”
On Friday morning, Inchauspe went down once again, losing the first set to Pow 6–4. Pow was a member of Wake Forest’s squad that won the 2025 NCAA DI men’s tennis team championship in May.
“I knew about [Pow] already,” Inchauspe said. “I was expecting a very tough battle. I felt stronger physically in the third set which allowed me to play better and to win that match.”
As he’s done all week, Inchauspe bounced back with a 6–4 win of his own in the second set to force the winner take all third set. In the third set, Inchauspe was quick to take care of business, going up 5–1 and ultimately winning 6–2.
“Associate Head Coach Damian Hume has done an incredible job with him on court, and particularly this week, helping him fight through each round,” Pate wrote. “Paul wasn’t as sharp the first two rounds, but has settled in and he was playing to his standard today in the third set.”
The biggest test of the season awaits the French native on Saturday. Inchauspe will play Zheng, who has made the NCAA title game in the last two seasons, winning in 2024 to become the first NCAA singles champion from Columbia since 1906.
“His results recently have been very impressive,” Inchauspe said of Zheng. “I’m going to need my best tennis, but I’ll compete as I’ve been doing and as hard as I can, try to find solutions and adapt during the match.”
“It’s great for Ivy League tennis. It’s not something that happens often,” Inchauspe added
Zheng has also begun to establish himself on the professional circuit, reaching a career-high ATP singles ranking inside the top 200 while still in college. Inchauspe and Zheng have shared the court before — including an unfinished doubles match meeting in the spring and a Round of 32 match at the 2022 French Open Juniors — but Saturday will be their first head-to-head singles showdown.
“Against [Zheng], Paul will clearly need to play well, minimizing mistakes, while dictating play and using his weapons,” Pate wrote to the 'Prince'. “Both players have slightly different styles so it will be who can play their strengths the best.”
“If Paul executes his offense he’s tough to beat. Michael is incredibly solid and playing with a lot of confidence, so we expect a high quality match from both sides.” he continued.
The semifinal is scheduled for Saturday at 10 a.m. at the USTA National Campus in Orlando and will be streamed on ESPN+.
“I believe in myself, I’m going to back myself,” Inchauspe said.
Hayk Yengibaryan is a head News editor, senior Sports writer, and education director for the ‘Prince.’ He is from Glendale, Calif. and typically covers breaking news and profiles. He can be reached at hy5161[at]princeton.edu.
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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