Cheng, King, Lu, Z. Wang Notch Singles Wins as Elis top William & Mary 5-2
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale men's tennis team officially opened the dual match season at home on Friday with a match against William & Mary. The Bulldogs, who came into the match looking to avenge a 4-3 loss in this fixture a year ago, fielded a starting lineup with a number of fresh faces. Notably, all three freshmen – Ryan Cheng, Andrew Heller and Dylan King – assumed starting singles spots and found success. Despite William & Mary's strong performance, the new and improved Yale lineup won handily by a score of 5-2 to improve the Elis' dual match record to 1-0.
Friday's action began with a round of doubles play, although it didn't last long. At the No. 1 doubles spot, Stefan Doehler and Alex Hagermoser combined well and finished within the hour, topping William & Mary's Ryan Newman and Aidan Talcott, 6-2. Freshman duo Cheng and King also won their match at the No. 3 spot in quick fashion, downing William & Mary's Christian Cargill and Damon Niquet, 6-2. Once the Elis had clinched the doubles point, Tyler Lu and Ziqi Wang's match at No. 2 doubles was suspended.
After a dominant round of doubles, the Bulldogs moved into the singles round with significant momentum. The freshman Cheng was the first to finish at No. 5 singles, dispatching William & Mary's Lars de Boer 6-3, 6-0; this result improved his singles record on the season to 11-3. The remaining matches, however, were relatively competitive. Although the Elis experienced a setback when William & Mary's Alec Miller and Damon Niquet won their matches at No. 4 and No. 6 singles, respectively, the home side managed to close the match convincingly. At the top singles spot, senior captain Lu survived a tight second set to win 6-2, 7-6 over William & Mary's Talcott; this victory was particularly impressive given Talcott's high national ranking in singles (No. 72), and should give Lu himself a strong case for a national ranking.
The two closest singles matches of the day came in the middle of the lineup. In the No. 2 spot, Yale's Ziqi Wang found himself in a number of tough spots, but ultimately succeeded in holding serve on several crucial occasions to edge William & Mary's Cargill by the score 6-3, 6-4. Meanwhile, the No. 3 singles match entered a third set, with Yale's King locked in a battle with William & Mary's Addison Appleby. After narrowly dropping the first set 6-4, the Yale freshman rebounded in the next two sets and dominated play, ultimately securing a 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 victory. This result improved his singles record on the season to an impressive 14-2.
Although the Bulldogs will be enthusiastic about their dominant performance on Friday, they have little time to celebrate – their next match against a tough Buffalo squad is set for tomorrow at 1 p.m.
Report by Cameron Ferguson '18, Yale Sports Publicity
FULL MATCH RESULTS -- Yale 5, William & Mary 2
