Men's Tennis Historic Run Continues; Three Lions Move Onto Semis at USTA/ITA Northeast Regional Championships
10/20/2014 11:43:00 AM | Men's Tennis
FLUSHING MEADOWS, N.Y. – The Columbia men's tennis team's historic United States Tennis Association (USTA)/Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Northeast Regional Championship run continued Monday morning at the Billie Jean King Tennis Center as three Lions will advance in the quarterfinals to move onto the semis.
The northeast regional final four will see three players in Columbia blue in white for not only the first time in the Lions history, but also a first for any Ivy League program.
Winston Lin continued his charge as the tournament's top-seed against Ancient Eight foe Alex Steinroeder of Harvard. The eighth-ranked senior downed Steinroeder, 6-2, 7-6, to continue his 2013 Northeast Regional title defense. Lin will take on the winner of No. 72 Dovydas Sakiniks of Dartmouth and the Crimson's Sebastian Beltrame in one semi final.
The other semifinal will be an all Columbia match as junior Dragos Ignat will be on one side of the court after besting Fairleigh Dickinson's Arvis Berzins, 6-4, 7-6. The other side of the court will feature the victory of No. 107 Mike Vermeer vs. No. 108 Ashok Narayana.
The Lions victories did not carry over to the doubles court as the 6th-ranked pair of Narayana and Max Schnur dropped a tough match in the semis. The senior tandem battled with the Big Green's 3-4 seeded pair Chris Kipouras and Sakinis, but could not hold on as they fell in a super breaker in the third, 6-2, 5-7, 10-5.
The singles' final four begins at 2 p.m. at the National Tennis Center.
Results
Quarterfinal Singles
(No. 8/1) Winston Lin def. Alex Steinroeder (Harvard) 6-2, 7-6
(5-8) Dragos Ignat def. (17-32) Arvis Berzins (FDU) 6-4, 7-6
(No. 107/5-8) Mike Vermeer vs. (No. 108/5-8) Ashok Narayana (playing right now)
Doubles Semis
(No. 6/1) Ashok Narayana/Max Schnur lost to (3-4) Kipouras/Sakinis (Dartmouth) 6-2, 5-7, 10-5
(ITA Rank/Tournament seed)
Players Mentioned
