NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Closing out a difficult weekend on the road, the Yale men's tennis team lost to Penn 5-2 in its match at Hecht Tennis Center. This match was the third straight away match for the Bulldogs, whose loss brings them to 0-4 in league play and 10-10 overall. While they seemed to be on their game earlier in the match, unfortunately Princeton gained control and did not look back.

Yale had a strong start in doubles play, with its new doubles combos paying off with clear results. In the No. 3 spot, Ziqi Wang and Ryan Cheng gained a clean 6-3 win over Penn's Aleks Huryn and Max Cancilla. Before the No. 1 matchup, between Yale's Fedor Andrienko and Dylan King and the Quakers' Dmitry Shatalin and Kyle Mautner, could conclude, Bulldogs Stefan Doehler and Andrew Heller notched the win in the No. 2 spot, beating Josh Pompan and Nicholai Westergaard 6-4. At the time the No. 1 match was stopped, the score was tied at 5-5. With the doubles point clutched, the Bulldogs moved onto singles play, hoping to continue their success.

Unfortunately, singles play was a different story, with the Quakers getting strong performances from every player. Penn's Noah Makarome led off for them at the No. 6 spot, which is usually occupied by Ryan Cheng for Yale, beating Alan Sou 6-4, 6-2 to tie the match up at 1-1. This win ignited Penn, giving them the spark for a flurry of victories. In the No. 1 spot, sophomore stud Dylan King dropped his match by the same score to the talented Mautner – a two-time first-team All-Ivy player and the Penn captain. Yale captain Stefan Doehler experienced similar struggles in the No. 2 spot, falling 6-3, 6-2 to Pampan. The Quakers continued to expand their lead thereafter, with both Shatalin and Westergaard topping their opponents, No. 3 Heller and No. 5 Andrienko respectively, soon after by scores of 6-4, 6-3. Shatalin's win in the No. 3 spot clinched the match, making the overall score 4-1, before Westergaard finished. The Elis' Wang was the only player to notch a win in singles play, as he gained a 7-6, 6-3 win over Penn's Cancilla in the No. 4 slot, concluding the match at 5-2.

The Bulldogs have a hit a slump, with this loss marking their fourth in a row. Nonetheless, despite a tough start to the conference season, the Elis will look to turn things around next weekend when they return back home. The success of their doubles pairs, which were shifted around last game, in this match offers a positive sign for future matches. They will have to be at their best next weekend against more strong competition in No. 15 Columbia and previously ranked Cornell.

Report by Kiran Damodaran '21, Yale Sports Publicity

FULL MATCH RESULTS - Yale 2, Penn 5