NEW YORK — No. 10 Columbia men's tennis topped No. 13 Harvard, 4-3, Sunday afternoon to move back into a tie for first place in the Ivy League standings. The Lions improved to 18-3 overall and 4-1 in conference play. The victory puts the Lions even with the Crimson and Princeton. However, they hold the tiebreaker against both teams with head-to-head victories.
Alex Kotzen and Henry Ruger made quick work of Harvard's pair at No. 3 doubles, and No. 1 and No. 2 were fights to the finish. At No. 2, Nicolas Kotzen and Max Westphal had two chances to clinch on break, but the Crimson netted the final two points to set up a tiebreak. On the court right nextdoor, it was a matchup against two of the top-15 duos in the nation with No. 13 Michael Zheng and Theo Winegar already in a tiebreak with No. 7 Harvard's Cooper Williams and Daniel Milavsky.
Both matches went nearly point-for-point until Zheng and Winegar scored the final two points at No. 1, giving the Lions the 1-0 advantage.
Hugo Hashimoto kept the train rolling at No. 5 with a dominant straight-set victory over Melchoir Delloye where he did not drop a game to double the advantage. In No. 6 action, Henry Ruger downed Rohan Murali, 6-0, 6-2, to put Columbia on the verge of the win.
The Crimson took the No. 4 singles matchup. However, the Lions remained in control at No. 3, with Nicolas Kotzen up a set and up 5-2 in the second. Harvard's Daniel Milavsky held serve, but Kotzen rattled off four consecutive points on his serve to clinch the victory.
No. 1 and No. 2 singles were played to completion with Harvard claiming a pair of three-set wins.
The Lions will spend the final weekend of the regular season on the road when they face No. 72 Yale on Saturday, April 20. First serve is slated for 1 p.m. in New Haven, Connecticut.
RESULTS
#10 Columbia 4, #13 Harvard 3
Singles
1. #12 Cooper Williams (HAR) def. #21 Michael Zheng (COL) vs. 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7-3)
2. #73 Henry von der Schulenburg (HAR) def. #87 Alex Kotzen (COL), 7-5, 3-6, 1-0 (10-5)
3. Nicolas Kotzen (COL) vs. Daniel Milavsky (HAR), 6-3, 6-3
4. Ronan Jachuck (HAR) def. Max Westphal (COL), 6-3, 6-4
5. Hugo Hashimoto (COL) def. Melchoir Delloye (HAR), 6-0, 6-0
6. Henry Ruger (COL) def. Rohan Murali (HAR), 6-0, 6-2
Doubles
1. #14 Theo Winegar/Michael Zheng (COL) def. #7 Cooper Williams/Daniel Milavsky (HAR), 7-6 (10-8)
2. #57 Nicolas Kotzen/Max Westphal (COL) vs. Ronan Jachuck/Melchoir Delloye (HAR), 6-6 (5-5) – DNF
3. Alex Kotzen/Henry Ruger (COL) def. Alan Yim/David Lims (HAR), 6-2
Order of finish: Doubles (3, 1); Singles (5, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1)
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