No. 13 Lions Cruise to 6-1 Win Over No. 40 Cornell

Saturday, April 29

New York, N.Y.

1:00 PM

Columbia University

#40 Cornell

Photo by: Sanjay Vijaikumar

No. 13 Lions Cruise to 6-1 Win Over No. 40 Cornell

4/29/2023 8:12:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score (PDF)

Columbia turns its focus to the NCAA Tournament, which starts next weekend

By: Garret Sulak

NEW YORK – No. 13 Columbia dominated in a 6-1 win over No. 40 Cornell in the regular season finale Saturday afternoon at the Philip and Cheryl Milstein Family Tennis Center.

With the win, the Lions wrap up the regular season with a 19-3 overall record and a 6-1 mark in the Ivy League this season.

Columbia is expected to host the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament next weekend, but will hear officially at 6:30 p.m. Monday during the NCAA selection show. The top 16 teams in the country will host the first two rounds with four teams at each site.

With a large crowd on hand, the Lions got the afternoon started by easily winning the doubles point. The duo of Nicolas Kotzen and Max Westphal defeated Vladislav Melnic and Radu Papoe, 6-2 in the No. 2 doubles. Alex Kotzen and Roko Horvat then clinched the doubles point with a 6-3 win against Petar Teodorovic and Samuel Paquette in the No. 3 doubles.

Theo Winegar and Michael Zheng paired up in the No. 1 spot. They trailed Adit Sinha and Nathan Mao, 4-5 as their match went unfinished.

Alex Kotzen posted the first singles win of the afternoon with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Sinha in the No. 4 singles to give Columbia the 2-0 lead.

No. 33 Zheng extended Columbia's lead to 3-0 as he finished off a 6-4, 6-3 win against Radu Papoe in the No. 1 spot. Mao followed that up by earning Cornell's only win of the day with a 7-5, 6-2 victory against Nicolas Kotzen in the No. 5 singles.

No. 111 Westphal clinched Columbia's win with a win in the No. 2 singles against Vladislav Melnic. Westphal took a 6-3, 6-5 win as Melnic retired due to an injury.

Henry Ruger and Hugo Hashimoto played out their matches to polish off the 6-1 Columbia win. Ruger took a three-set 6-3, 1-6, 6-1 win against Sharma in the No. 6 spot. Hashimoto finished off the match with a thrilling 7-6(8-6), 6-4 win over Teodorovic in the No. 3 singles.

"I am proud of our guys who competed well on all nine courts today in doubles and singles," Bidyut K. Goswami Head Coach of Men's Tennis Howard Endelman said. "We are grateful to all the members of the Columbia Tennis family who came out to support us today."

RESULTS

#13 Columbia 6, #40 Cornell 1
Apr 29, 2023 at New York, N.Y.
Philip & Cheryl Milstein Family Tennis Center

Singles
1. #33 Michael Zheng (COL) def. Radu Papoe (COR) 6-4, 6-3
2. #111 Max Westphal (COL) def. Vladislav Melnic (COR) 6-3, 6-5, retired
3. Hugo Hashimoto (COL) def. Petar Teodorovic (COR) 7-6 (8-6), 6-4
4. Alex Kotzen (COL) def. Adit Sinha (COR) 6-3, 6-2
5. Nathan Mao (COR) def. Nicolas Kotzen (COL-MT) 7-5, 6-2
6. Henry Ruger (COL) def. Aman Sharma (COR) 6-3, 1-6, 6-1

Doubles
1. Theo Winegar/Michael Zheng (COL) vs. Adit Sinha/Nathan Mao (COR) 4-5, unfinished
2. Nicolas Kotzen/Max Westphal (COL) def. Vladislav Melnic/Radu Papoe (COR) 6-2
3. Alex Kotzen/Roko Horvat (COL) def. Petar Teodorovic/Samuel Paquette (COR) 6-3

Order of finish: Doubles (2,3); Singles (4,1,5,2,6,3)

UP NEXT

The Lions will participate in the NCAA Tournament starting next weekend. Columbia will learn if it will host the first two rounds and who its opponents will be during the NCAA selection show on Monday at 6:30 p.m.

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