PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Yale men's tennis team battled hard in a heartbreaking 4-3 away loss to the Brown Bears in its final match of the season. Although Yale was eventually topped by the Bears, it had a strong effort across the board, with the match coming down to the thrilling third set of Bulldog Fedor Andrienko's match against Brown's Ching Lam at No. 5 singles.
Brown came out of the gates firing in doubles play, with the Elis suffering hard-fought losses in the No. 2 and No. 3 slots. Yale's Nathan Brown and senior captain Stefan Doehler led off in No. 2 doubles against Bears Charles Tan and Aaron Sandberg, eventually falling 6-2. Down 1-0, the Bulldogs looked to even things up and put themselves in a position to gain the doubles point. Unfortunately, in a close match at No. 3 doubles, Ziqi Wang and Ryan Cheng suffered a tight 6-4 loss to Peter Tarwid and Jacob Walker after a solid battle. With the doubles point clinched for Brown, Andrienko and sophomore stud Dylan King's match was stopped in the No. 1 position.
Looking to bounce back in singles play, Yale went to work. Although sophomore Andrew Heller suffered a difficult loss to Walker in the No. 3 spot, putting the Elis in a 2-0 hole, the team responded with grit and determination. Rebounding in the No. 2 singles spot, Doehler topped Brown's Jack Haworth 6-2, 6-4 to bring Yale within striking distance. The Bulldogs notched another point at No. 6 singles, with Alan Sou bringing home a 7-6, 6-3 win over Sandberg. With the match tied up at 2-2, Yale had momentum on its side. Continuing the Elis' success, Wang gained a strong 6-3, 7-5 win over Tan at the No. 4 spot to give Yale a 3-2 lead. In an extremely close match in the No. 1 position, however, King fell to Tarwid 6-4, 7-6, bringing the match back to a 3-3 tie. With all matches but one decided, all eyes were on Andrienko and Lam. After Lam won the first set 6-4, Andrienko rebounded with a 6-3 win of his own in the second set to force the third set. The end was a heartbreaker, as Andrienko was within one game of Lam when Lam finally clinched the match with a 7-5 win in the deciding set, which gave Brown the 4-3 win.
Although Yale's loss will come as a disappointment for the Bulldogs, who were hoping to end the season on a high note, Yale played well and fought hard, offering a lot of positive takeaways. Senior captain Doehler and senior Andrienko especially showed their grit and commitment to the team with strong performances; they have been great leaders this year, and their contributions will continue to be felt as this young team's high potential manifests itself.
FULL MATCH RESULTS - Yale 3, Brown 4
