Bulldogs Cruise in Doubles; Cheng, King, Lu Win in Singles as Yale Tops Penn 4-1
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale men's tennis team notched a crucial victory on Sunday, cruising to a 4-1 win over Penn at home. This result not only came against one of the top sides in the Ivy League (Penn beat Brown and Harvard earlier this season), but also improved the Bulldogs' overall record to 16-7 (2-3 Ivy). In a match where the Elis played well across the board, one primary storyline was the return of freshman Ryan Cheng from injury, which noticeably boosted the team's morale and performance in a match that the players knew would be a challenge.
Sunday's match began with a relatively quick round of doubles. While Yale seniors Tyler Lu and Photos Photiades fell first to Penn's Josh Pompan and Thomas Spratt at the No. 3 position, the freshman duo of Cheng and Dylan King evened things up with a comfortable 6-3 victory over Penn's Kyle Mautner and Matt Nardella at No. 2 doubles. With the doubles point on the line, Yale's Fedor Andrienko and Alex Hagermoser then clinched the doubles point for the Elis at the No. 1 spot, dominating the net in a 6-3 win over Penn's Marshall Sharp and Nicholai Westergaard.
After an impressive round of doubles, the Bulldogs quickly built on their lead in singles. First to finish was senior captain Tyler Lu, who won his first set 6-4 over Penn's No. 1 player Mautner before his opponent retired from injury. King finished soon after, completing a dominant 6-0, 6-1 victory over Penn's Nardella; this result improved the freshman's singles record to a remarkable 13-1 in his last 14 matches.
With a 3-0 lead in the match, Yale conceded its lone point of the day at No. 2 singles, where junior Ziqi Wang fought through a series of contentious refereeing decisions in a 6-1, 6-4 loss to Penn's Pompan. It was ultimately fitting, however, that returning freshman Ryan Cheng clinched the match for the Bulldogs at No. 6 singles. By edging Penn's Sharp in a second-set tiebreak, the Bulldog closed out the match for Yale with a clutch 6-3, 7-6 win.
Sunday's comprehensive performance over one of the top teams in the Northeast Region will give the Bulldogs confidence heading into the final weekend of the Ivy League season. The Elis' next test will come on Saturday in an away match against Cornell.
Report by Cameron Ferguson '18, Yale Sports Publicity
FULL MATCH RESULTS – Yale 4, Penn 1
