Bulldogs Go 7-3 in Singles to Open Dartmouth Invitational
HANOVER, NH – Ten members of the Yale men's tennis team competed in five separate singles flights of the Dartmouth Invitational on Friday. Joining the Elis in Hanover were four other teams from the Northeast region: Amherst, Binghamton, Brown and Dartmouth. Against such tough competition in away territory, the Bulldogs excelled by winning seven of ten singles matches on the tournament's first day; six of these victories came in straight sets.
Yale junior Stefan Doehler notched the most lopsided victory of the day, cruising to a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Amherst's Josh Marchalik. Fellow junior Ziqi Wang also looked dominant in victory, topping Brown's Aaron Sandberg 6-3, 6-0. The remaining matches were more competitive; senior Alex Hagermoser recorded a 6-4, 6-4 victory, while sophomore Nathan Brown won by a score of 6-3, 6-3. Freshman Ryan Cheng, who had his hands full with Dartmouth's Roko Glasnovic, managed to pull through a tight second set tiebreak to complete a 6-2, 7-6 (6) victory; this result improved his singles record on the year to 8-1.
The Bulldogs' success against Ivy League opponents was a prominent storyline that emerged on Friday. Like his teammates Cheng and Wang, sophomore Dennis Wang recorded a victory over a strong Ivy League opponent on Friday, overcoming Brown's Mladen Mitak in a comprehensive 7-5, 6-3 victory. This level of early success against conference rivals certainly bodes well for the Elis going forward.
On a day when the Bulldogs largely dominated, Yale's Fedor Andrienko and Photos Photiades played the day's only three-set matches. While Andrienko fell to a tough opponent in Binghamton's Thomas Caputo, Photiades fought back from a significant deficit to notch a 1-6, 6-2, 6-4 comeback victory over Binghamton's Josh Druger. Friday's win marked the latest in a string of positive results for Photiades, who has begun the season with a 10-3 overall record in singles and doubles.
Yale's successful first day in Hanover sent a clear message to the rest of the Northeast region: the Bulldogs will be a force to contend with this season. The Elis are set to play two rounds of doubles and one round of singles tomorrow.
Report by Cameron Ferguson '18, Yale Sports Publicity
FULL RESULTS – Dartmouth Invitational, Day One
Z. Wang def. Sandberg (Brown) 6-3, 6-0
S. Doehler def. Marchalik (Amherst) 6-0, 6-1
Cestarollo (Binghamton) def. Heller 6-2, 6-1
Caputo (Binghamton) def. Andrienko 6-7 (4), 7-5, 6-3
Cheng def. Glasnovic ((Dartmouth) 6-2, 7-6 (6)
Hagermoser def. Sun (Amherst) 6-4, 6-4
N. Brown def. Fung (Amherst) 6-3, 6-3
Photiades def. Druger (Binghamton) 1-6, 6-2, 6-4
Paradis (Amherst) def. Adams 6-1, 6-2
D. Wang def. Mitak (Brown) 7-5, 6-3
