Five Bulldogs Notch Singles Victories as Yale Tops Army, 5-2
WEST POINT, NY – After a two week postponement, the Yale men's tennis team traveled to West Point on Sunday to face Army in a match that had originally been scheduled for Jan. 23. Marking the 75th clash between the two sides, Sunday's affair featured great tennis and fierce competition; and though both teams left everything on the court, the Bulldogs ultimately walked away with a decisive victory. In one of their most comprehensive performances to date, the Elis sent a clear message to the rest of the Northeast region by winning five of six singles matches and posting their fourth consecutive victory.
Although the day ended on a positive note for Yale, the result was in serious doubt from the outset. With the exception of duo Fedor Andrienko and Stefan Doehler, who cruised to a 6-2 win in the No. 1 position, Yale struggled in the initial doubles round. At the No. 2 position, Yale's Martin Svenning and Ziqi Wang couldn't gather themselves against Army pairing Sam Lampman and Michael Nguyen, while Jason Brown and Alex Hagermoser were also caught off guard in the No. 3 spot. By the end of the hour, the Black Knights had taken advantage of crucial service breaks to secure two 6-4 victories, as well as a 1-0 overall match lead.
At the start of the singles round, Army's Lampman suffered an unfortunate injury that swung the momentum of the match, retiring against Ziqi in the top singles spot despite a 5-3 lead. Soon after, freshman Dennis Wang gave Yale its first lead of the day with a dominant 6-2, 6-1 victory over Army's Kyle Barnes at No. 4 singles. The talented freshman has now won four straight matches and continues to make a strong case to start in the middle of the Bulldogs' singles lineup.
With the match score at 2-1, Andrienko and Svenning both pushed harder to finish their matches and clinch the result for Yale. At No. 5 singles, Andrienko notched a relatively smooth 6-2, 7-5 win; Svenning, however, found more of a challenge in Army's No. 2 player Grant Riechmann. After squeaking through in a first set tiebreak, the Yale senior nearly found himself in a third set before closing out the match by a narrow 7-6, 6-4 margin. Svenning is currently undefeated in the No. 2 spot and may have secured that position with his quality of play on Sunday.
Although the match had already been decided in Yale's favor, both Doehler and Hagermoser continued to fight against tough opponents in the No. 6 and No. 3 singles spots, respectively. While Hagermoser managed to rebound after losing his second set to take his match 6-2, 5-7, 6-4, Doehler relinquished a one set lead to Army's Michael Nguyen in a 6-7, 6-4, 6-4 loss. Though Hagermoser was the one to notch a victory (improving his record on the season to a staggering 14-4), Doehler can also take pride in the fact that he appears to be making a steady return to full health.
Sunday's performance wasn't perfect, but there is no doubt that Yale has improved significantly over the past few weeks. After starting the dual match season 0-2, the squad has stormed back with four straight victories and looks poised for a successful Ivy League campaign. The Bulldogs will put their win streak to the test next weekend as they travel to New York for the ECAC Division I Indoor Championships.
Report by Cameron Ferguson '18, Yale Sports Publicity
