Bulldogs Excel Across the Board to Down Bryant by Combined Score of 11-1
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale men's tennis team continued its winning ways in style on Saturday, submitting a nearly flawless performance at home against Bryant. Bolstered by top player Ziqi Wang's return from injury, the Elis dictated play and dropped just one point out of a twelve-match double-header, improving their dual match record to 6-4. With so many players on the roster getting a crack at competition and finding success on Saturday, the Bulldogs also showcased the impressive depth that they have at their disposal; depth has emerged as a major storyline this season as the team has had to overcome an unfortunate string of injuries.
Saturday's action began with doubles; and similar to Yale's clash with Bryant in 2014, the Bulldogs gained momentum early. At No. 2 doubles, Yale's Jason Brown and Alex Hagermoser downed Bryant's Luke Lorenz and Jorge Ortiz-Garcia 6-3; Photos Photiades and Martin Svenning then followed suit with a 6-4 victory in the No. 3 position. With the doubles point already in hand, sophomore duo Fedor Andrienko and Stefan Doehler wrapped up the doubles round with a 7-6 tiebreak win over Bryant's Nick Lamart and Mike Plutt.
Energized by a successful doubles round, the Elis exploded out of the gate in singles. At No. 2, 4 and 6 singles, Yale players cruised to victory without conceding more than three games in a set; with these results, both Fedor Andrienko (No. 4) and Jason Brown (No. 6) extended their win streaks to six and five straight matches, respectively. After Hagermoser improved his own record on the season to 16-5 with a straight-set victory over Bryant's Ortiz-Garcia at No. 3 singles, Ziqi Wang marked his return to the lineup by downing Bryant's top player Luke Lorenz 6-1, 6-4. Freshman Dennis Wang then completed the 7-0 sweep for the Bulldogs with a masterful 7-6, 6-2 win over Art Jakubowski at No. 5 singles.
Saturday's affair also featured a second fixture with just four singles matches and one doubles match. In this abbreviated match, the Bulldogs' James Ratchford saw his first singles action of the season at No. 4 singles; freshman Nathan Brown also led the way with victories in both singles and doubles. Photiades played the tightest match of the bunch, taking his match 6-4, 7-5 over Bryant's Nick Lamart to secure the match for Yale by a score of 4-1. The Yale junior has excelled in singles lately, with an 8-2 record in his last 10 matches.
After Saturday's comprehensive performance, the high-flying Elis will take next weekend off in order to prepare for a busy spring break. Their next match will take place at home on Saturday Mar. 12, with the Bulldogs scheduled to take on Fairfield in a regional matchup.
Report by Cameron Ferguson '18, Yale Sports Publicity
First Match Results
Second Match Results
