Men’s tennis remains winless in Ivy League play after falling to Cornell and Columbia

Last Friday, No. 37 men’s tennis (14–10 overall, 0–5 Ivy League) fell to No. 33 Cornell (15–3, 3–1) 4–2 after a series of close matches. Then, on Sunday, Princeton was swept 4–0 by Columbia (14–6, 4–0). The losses were the Tigers’ fourth and fifth in Ivy League play, and the Orange and Black remain winless in conference play. 

“I truly don’t believe there is a more competitive sport on the national scale than men’s tennis in the Ivy League,” head coach Billy Pate told The Daily Princetonian. “This has been the case for several years, but right now, five teams [in the Ivy League] are in range for an NCAA bid. Any league match is going to be close and up for grabs.”

Men’s tennis falls to Cornell 4–2 

The match started off in favor of Princeton. At No. 1 doubles, junior Paul Inchauspe and senior Top Nidunjianzan obtained the first decisive result, with a 6–2 victory that concluded in the twenty-ninth minute. However, just two minutes later, Cornell struck back with a 6–3 victory at No. 3 doubles. 

The doubles point then hinged on the No. 2 matchup, where sophomore Meecah Bigun and junior Evan Wen were representing the Tigers. The pair reached a 6–5 advantage, but it unfortunately wasn’t enough as Cornell rallied back to 7–6 to win the match and claim the doubles point.

“We had looks at No. 2 doubles, just missing on break points in two different games,” Pate told the ‘Prince.’ “I’d like to think if we convert one of those we win the doubles point, and it likely leads to an overall match win. Again, it just further illustrates the thin margins […] it’s simply a matter of having confidence in executing those conversion points.”

As the singles matches started, it was again the Tigers that had the advantage initially. First-year Jordan Reznik got the first decisive result at No. 6 singles, a straight set victory over Aman Sharma (6–3, 6–1). Shortly after, Inchauspe got a straight set victory of his own over Rodrigo Fernandes at No. 1 singles (6–4, 6–3) to briefly give Princeton the lead in the match. However, Cornell responded two minutes later, winning No. 3 singles (6–3, 6–4) to equalize the match at 2–2.

The other courts were more closely contested. At No. 4 singles, junior Aleksandar Mitric lost the first set 6–3, but won the next 6–4 to even it up. Meanwhile, at No. 5 singles, sophomore Milan Markovits won his first set 6–3, but lost the next 6–3. 

The situation at No. 2 singles was perhaps the highlight out of the three remaining courts. After Nidunjianzan won the first set 6–3, his opponent Petar Teodorovic claimed the first game of the second set. Nidunjianzan then equalized, and Teodorovic claimed the game after that. This pattern of trading games continued the whole set until the two were level at 6–6. Teodorovic claimed the decisive game to win the set 7–6, preventing a straight set victory by Nidunjianzan.

Soon after, Cornell claimed the third set on No. 4 and No. 5 singles, giving them the match victory with a final score of 4–2.

“We knew Cornell would be a down-to-wire match,” Pate said. “Ultimately, it comes down to one or two points, and we simply need to convert those opportunities. Unfortunately, we didn’t quite convert, and against a strong team like Cornell, it’s going to be challenging.”

Columbia takes revenge, winning 4–0 against the Orange and Black

Following the loss to Cornell, Princeton looked to right the ship. Unfortunately, the Tigers will have to search for their first Ivy League win against Yale this Saturday instead. 

Mirroring their loss to Cornell, Princeton once again lost the doubles points for the contest after the No. 2 and No. 3 matchups fell to Columbia. The No. 1 pairing, Inchauspe and Nidunjianzan, were locked in a 5–5 matchup against Columbia’s Michael Zheng and Nicolas Kotzen, but after the No. 2 and No. 3 matchups finished, the doubles contest was already decided and the point for the day went to the Lions.

Princeton didn’t fare that much better in singles. In an anticipated rematch between Inchauspe and Zheng, the Columbia senior got the best of his Princeton counterpart, winning two-out-of-three sets. After dropping the first set, Inchauspe stole the second, 6–3, before Zheng closed out the final frame 6–3 himself. The victory was revenge for Zheng; when they last met in February, it was Inchauspe who walked away with the win.

Losses for Mitric and Markovits in the No. 4 and No. 5 matchups, respectively, ended the day early for the Tigers. With those defeats, the Lions reached the needed four points on the day to bring the day to a close, leaving Nidunjianzan, Sec, and Reznik with unfinished matchups. 

Princeton will face Yale (16–7, 3–2) at home on Saturday, April 18.

James Li is a Sports contributor for the ‘Prince.’

Doug Schwartz is a head Sports editor at the ‘Prince.’

Please send any corrections to sports[at]dailyprincetonian.com.