ITHACA, N.Y. – The ninth-ranked Columbia men's tennis team came up short in its Ivy League opener at No. 31 Cornell, 6-1 on Saturday afternoon. Columbia moves to 14-3 overall this season.
 
Cornell jumped out to the lead in doubles to get the match started. The Big Red claimed wins in the No. 2 and 3 doubles to clinch the double point. Cornell's Radu Papoe and Samuel Paquette defeated Alex Kotzen and Henry Ruger, 6-2 in the No. 3 spot. Petar Teodorovic and Eric Verdes then clinched the point with a 6-3 win over No. 32 Nicolas Kotzen and Max Westphal in the No. 2 position.
 
The Big Red extended their lead heading into singles as 13^th-ranked Papoe worked a 6-4, 6-0 win against No. 17 Michael Zheng in the top singles.
 
Hugo Hashimoto responded with Columbia's lone win of the match. Hashimoto battled through two sets to take a 6-3, 6-2 win over Nathan Mao in the No. 5 singles.
 
Cornell claimed the remaining singles matches to finish off the 6-1 victory. No. 63 Adit Sinha defeated No. 75 Alex Kotzen in the No. 2 singles, Teodorovic battled back to defeat No. 112 Nicolas Kotzen in three sets in the No. 3 singles, Bradley Paliska downed Westphal in the No. 4 spot and Felipe Pinzon took a three-set win over Ruger in the No. 6 singles.
 
The Lions will look to rebound next weekend with two Ivy League matches. Columbia will host Princeton on Friday, April 5 for a 2 p.m. first serve at the Philip and Cheryl Milstein Family Tennis Center before traveling to Penn for a 1 p.m. match on Sunday, April 7.
 
RESULTS
#31 Cornell 6, #9 Columbia 1
 
Singles
1. #13 Radu Papoe (COR) def. #17 Michael Zheng (COL) 6-4, 6-0
2. #63 Adit Sinha (COR) def. #75 Alex Kotzen (COL) 6-4, 6-4
3. Petar Teodorovic (COR) def. #112 Nicolas Kotzen (COL) 4-6, 6-3, 6-3
4. Bradley Paliska (COR) def. Max Westphal (COL) 4-6, 6-1, 6-2
5. Hugo Hashimoto (COL) def. Nathan Mao (COR) 6-3, 6-2
6. Felipe Pinzon (COR) def. Henry Ruger (COL) 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (10-6)
 
Doubles
1. Adit Sinha/Nathan Mao (COR) vs. #16 Theo Winegar/Michael Zheng (COL) 3-5, unfinished
2. Petar Teodorovic/Eric Verdes (COR) def. #32 Nicolas Kotzen/Max Westphal (COL) 6-3
3. Radu Papoe/Samuel Paquette (COR) def. Alex Kotzen/Henry Ruger (COL) 6-2
 
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2); Singles (1,5,2,3,4,6)
 
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