NEW HAVEN, Conn. –
In unprecedented times, Yale University Athletics is rallying together as One Bulldog Nation. While the health and safety of everyone must be at the forefront of every decision, Yale Athletics celebrates the outstanding accomplishments that our winter postseason-qualifying teams and spring programs have made this season. Next up, men's tennis.
In his first season as the Cary Leeds Head Coach of Men's Tennis,
Chris Drake has already built the foundation for a very successful program. The Class of 2020 has certainly played a very important role as well.
Ryan Cheng, Andrew Heller and
Dylan King have provided the Bulldogs with outstanding leadership.
The spring, Yale won five matches, including impressive victories over Boston College and Navy. The positive momentum could be seen on the final day of competition when the Bulldogs knocked off both NJIT (6-1) and Fairfield. Shortly thereafter, the remainder of the season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 public health threat.
Nevertheless, the Class of 2020 left its mark.
Cheng of San Marino, Calif., has been a consistent singles and doubles player throughout his career. This year, he posted a 10-8 doubles mark and also earned impressive singles victories over players from Tennessee and Texas at the season-opening Farnsworth Ivy Play at Princeton. As a junior, he played mostly No. 2 and No.3 singles and No. 1 doubles. He made an immediate impact in his first year, finishing the fall with a 9-2 doubles record and a 10-3 singles record.
"Ryan has been the consummate teammate throughout the year," Drake said. "He was always the first to lend a helping hand to his teammates, the coaching staff or anyone in need. He has been 100 percent devoted to his individual tennis development as well as the collective growth of the program and pursued these goals with passion and grit."
Heller of Weston, Florida, also had a very strong start to his Yale career, winning eight of his first nine singles matches. In his sophomore season, he was the recipient of the George A. Phelps Memorial Award as the team's most improved player. At the ITA Regionals, he reached the quarterfinals in singles. This year as a senior, he has an 8-5 record in doubles and an 8-8 mark in singles.
"Andrew has been a consistent example of the work ethic and team first mindset that we hope for in all of our players," Drake said. "In practice, Andrew was consistently leading the group through his positive attitude, vocal encouragement of his teammates and through his own physical effort. In matches, he fought hard for himself and his team and showed great toughness battling through injuries this winter to give our team our best chance to win."
King of Portland, Ore., is a two-time second team All-Ivy selection. He was honored after his first year in 2017 and again last year as a junior. This spring, he advanced to the Round of 16 at the ITA Regionals and played in the inaugural Oracle Challenge Series at Yale in early September. He also reached the Round of 16 at ITA Regionals in both 2017 and 2018. His 32 overall singles victories as a first year were the most by any Bulldog in more than three decades.
"Dylan did a great job for us this year in what is always a tough situation," Drake said. "As the captain of a program going through a coaching change, Dylan did a great job of balancing the implementation of new thoughts and ideas from the coaching staff with being a sounding board for the team. He communicated well with me and Alex and worked very hard to be an example of what we want out of our players. I feel terrible for Dylan that his season was disrupted, first by illness, and then by the coronavirus as I feel he was poised to have tremendous success on court individually and in leading our group."
