King, Lu, Z. Wang Notch Singles Victories in 4-3 Home Loss to Princeton
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale men's tennis team hosted Princeton in New Haven on Saturday, falling just a few games short of victory in a match that came down to a pair of three-set singles matches. Although the Elis will be disappointed to drop a match against a conference opponent, they can take pride in their performance against one of the toughest sides in the Ivy League. Among Yale's top performers on Saturday were Dylan King, Tyler Lu and Ziqi Wang, who all won singles matches in the top three positions.
The Tigers began Saturday's match with a strong performance in doubles. At the No. 2 position, Princeton's Payton Holden and Jimmy Wasserman topped Yale seniors Lu and Photos Photiades; and although Yale's Fedor Andrienko and Alex Hagermoser competed well with nationally ranked Alexander Day and Luke Gamble at the No. 1 spot, the Tigers ultimately pulled away with a 6-3 victory to secure the doubles point.
After dropping the doubles points, the Elis bounced back well in singles. Yale freshman Dylan King kicked things off for the Bulldogs with a dominant 6-1, 6-3 win over Princeton's Kial Kaiser at the No. 3 spot; this result improved King's singles record this spring to 16-3. Lu followed up in the No. 1 singles position with a straight-set win of his own, downing Princeton's Day 6-4, 6-1 and extending his current win streak to four matches. Princeton's Jonathan Carcione managed to edge Yale's Andrienko at the No. 6 spot, securing a pair of crucial service breaks in a 6-4, 7-5 victory; junior Ziqi Wang notched a narrow win as well with a 6-4, 6-4 performance over Princeton's Thomas Colautti.
With the score tightening up, the remaining singles matches at No. 4 and No. 5 singles both reached dramatic third sets. Ultimately, however, the Tigers were able to win both to clinch the match; Princeton's Gamble staged a comeback against Yale's Stefan Doehler to win 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 at No. 4 singles, and the Tigers' Wasserman escaped with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 victory over Yale's No. 6 player Andrew Heller.
Though the Elis will be disappointed to lose such a close match, they showed flashes of great potential on Saturday and are sure to build on it going forward. The squad's next match, a home fixture against Penn, will take place at 1:00 p.m. tomorrow.
Report by Cameron Ferguson '18, Yale Sports Publicity
FULL MATCH RESULTS -- Princeton 4, Yale 3
