Svenning, D. Wang, Z. Wang Win in Singles; Andrienko, Doehler Force Three-Set Matches as Bulldogs Fall 4-3 to St. John's

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale men's tennis team played its final non-Ivy League match of the season on Saturday, hosting nationally ranked St. John's in what can only be described as the Elis' most competitive match to date. Although the day ultimately ended in a heartbreaking 4-3 loss for the Bulldogs, their performance on Saturday – in which they came just a few points short of victory – demonstrated just how far they have progressed since mid-February, when St. John's notched a rather comfortable 4-1 victory over an injury-ridden Yale side. By competing shot for shot with one of the nation's top teams on Saturday, the Elis sent a clear message to all of its upcoming Ivy opponents: Yale's recent hot streak is for real.

Saturday's match kicked off with a fiercely contested round of doubles. The Bulldogs seized the upper hand initially when senior Jason Brown and junior Alex Hagermoser downed the Red Storm's No. 3 duo MJ Every and Robert Livi, 6-1; this result improved the Yale pairing's record to 5-1 in their last six matches. St. John's buckled down following the loss, however, and refused to fold in the two remaining doubles matches. At No. 1 doubles, St. John's Lucas Hejhal and Vaidik Munshaw edged Yale's Fedor Andrienko and Stefan Doehler, 6-4; and in the No. 2 spot, the Red Storm won again by a one-break margin to finalize its come back and steal the doubles point.

After an intense round of doubles, the players found little opportunity to rest in singles. Even the contest's two quickest matches were back-and-forth affairs; at No. 3 singles, Yale's Hagermoser nearly forced a third set in a 6-2, 6-4 to St. John's Hejhal; and in the top singles spot, Ziqi Wang grinded for every point in a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Daniel Skripnik. Saturday's straight-set victory may be the most impressive result of Wang's campaign so far, in which the sophomore has compiled a 14-6 overall singles record in the absence of star player Tyler Lu.

Remarkably, the remaining four singles matches on Saturday all made it to a third set. At No. 2 singles, Yale's Andrienko was among the first to finish; though he played a near-flawless second set, the Bulldog couldn't carry his momentum through to the finish line in a 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 defeat. Yale's No. 5 player Dennis Wang managed to stage a full comeback in his own match, however – after dropping the first set 6-3, the freshman stormed back to dominate the next two sets 6-2, 6-1 and claim victory over St. John's Alan Aguilera Nunez. The rookie Bulldog, who has won seven of his last eight matches, appears to be playing his best tennis just in time for the start of Ivy League competition.

Staring down a 3-2 match deficit, the Elis turned next to senior Martin Svenning at No. 4 singles. Following a nervy start that saw both Svenning and his opponent Dusan Vukicevic win a set apiece, the veteran Bulldog who pulled away convincingly in the third; and once he claimed the match 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 in Yale's favor, it was up to Stefan Doehler to settle Saturday's clash. In one of the most competitive matches one will see in the No. 6 position, Doehler played excellent tennis to pressure St. John's star Andrei Crapcenko – who had lost just one match out of his last eighteen – and drive the match all the way down to the wire. In the end, however, Crapcenko proved too strong in crucial moments to overcome Doehler in a marathon 5-7, 6-2, 7-5 battle.

Although the Bulldogs will be disappointed to walk away with a loss when they played so well across the board, they can certainly take pride in the fact that only a handful of points separated them from the No. 58 ranked team in Division I tennis. If Yale can continue to perform at such a high level, the results are sure to come in the near future. Of course, the near future is all that really matters – the Ivy League season will begin in just a week's time with an away match against Penn.