No. 7 Men’s Tennis Set for ITA Kickoff Weekend

Saturday, January 25

New York, N.Y.

2:00 PM

Columbia

Miami

Photo by: Illinois Athletics

No. 7 Men’s Tennis Set for ITA Kickoff Weekend

1/24/2025 3:00:00 PM | Men's Tennis

ITA Kickoff Weekend Home Page Live Stream Live Scoring

Columbia plays Miami on Saturday, Florida or Middle Tennessee State on Sunday

By: Garret Sulak

NEW YORK – The seventh-ranked Columbia men's tennis team will play its first dual matches of the season this weekend at the Philip and Cheryl Milstein Family Tennis Center while serving as a regional host for ITA Kickoff Weekend.

As the top seed in the four-team regional, Columbia will host No. 24 Florida, Middle Tennessee State and Miami this weekend. The Lions will face Miami on Saturday at 2 p.m. in the first match of the weekend. The Lions will then meet either Florida or Middle Tennessee State on Sunday at 11 a.m. or 2 p.m. depending on Saturday's results. The winner of the Columbia regional will advance to the ITA National Team Indoor Championships hosted by Baylor and SMU in February.

LIVE COVERAGE
Action from the Milstein Family Tennis Center this weekend will be broadcast live through the Cracked Racquets Youtube channel. Fans can also follow live scores online for all four matches.

LAST TIME OUT
Columbia started the spring season by competing at the Fighting Illini Invite hosted by Illinois last weekend. Columbia competed in singles and doubles matches along with hidden duals against Illinois and Boise State across three days of action at Illinois' Atkins Tennis Center. Nicolas Kotzen, Michael Zheng, Hugo Hashimoto, Jayden Templeman, Max Westphal, Sachin Palta, Jordan Chang, Andrew Kotzen and Thanaphat Boosarawongse all saw action.

The 2024 fall NCAA singles champion, Michael Zheng saw his first collegiate action this weekend since claiming the national title in November. Zheng posted a solid 6-4, 7-6(4) victory over No. 14 Kenta Miyoshi (Illinois) on Saturday. He also defeated Boise State's Julius Seifert in two sets on the first day of action. Zheng posted two doubles victories playing alongside Nicolas Kotzen and one win playing with Andrew Kotzen.

No. 42 Nicolas Kotzen earned a 6-1, 7-6(7) win over No. 111 Jett Middleton (Boise State) on Saturday. 33rd-ranked Hashimoto secured two singles victories this weekend. The 75th-ranked duo of Hashimoto and Templeman posted five doubles wins spread across three days.

THE OPPONENTS
Entering this weekend, Florida, Middle Tennessee State and Miami have all earned dual wins to start the season. Florida is 1-0 after posting a win over Georgia Southern on Monday. Middle Tennessee State is 2-1 with wins against Lipscomb and UT Southern. Miami sits at 3-0 overall with victories over Troy, Buffalo and Florida Atlantic.

SUSTAINING SUCCESS
Columbia begins the 2025 campaign after its best season in program history in 2024 that saw the Lions advance to the NCAA Quarterfinals for the first time ever. Columbia knocked off 13 opponents ranked inside the ITA Top 75 along the way and peaked at No. 4 in the ITA Rankings on February 20, 2024, which is the highest ranking in program history. The Lions defeated then No. 13 Harvard in a hard-fought 4-3 home victory that helped seal Columbia's 17th conference championship and the first Ivy League Championship during Endelman's tenure as head coach.

Following the NCAA Team Championships, Michael Zheng competed in the NCAA Singles Championships, while Zheng and Theo Winegar competed in the NCAA Doubles Championships. Zheng continued an already historic season as he made a run to the NCAA Singles Championship match, finishing as the 2024 runner-up. Zheng also earned singles All-American honors for the second season in a row. Zheng was named the ITA National Player to Watch following the conclusion of the season.

Zheng continued his successful collegiate career this past fall as he became Columbia's first NCAA singles champion of the modern era. The three-time All-American defeated Michigan State's Ozan Baris, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 to claim the singles crown this past November in Waco, Texas. Zheng is the first Lion to win a singles title since Robert LeRoy won the title in both 1904 and 1906. Zheng is the first men's singles champion from an Ivy League school since Lucien Williams (Yale) won a title in 1922.

8 AGAINST HATE
This weekend the Ivy League is hosting its "8 Against Hate Weekend" at all athletic events across its eight campuses. The "8 Against Hate" initiative is a league-wide initiative that includes campus programming and support for student-athletes, coaches and staff. It promotes a consistent and unwavering message against all forms of discrimination and hate.

HYGIENE ESSENTIALS DRIVE
Athletics will be collaborating with the local nonprofit Harlem United at the women's basketball game on Saturday, January 25 at 2 PM. We will be conducting a hygiene essentials drive benefiting their shower program which provides basic personal care supplies and access to safe showers for 3,000 New Yorkers each year. We will be collecting travel-sized shampoos, 2-in-1 shampoos, bar soaps, body washes, shaving cream, deodorant, hair brushes, wide-tooth combs, toothpaste, toothbrushes, floss picks, lip balm, and feminine hygiene products.

FOLLOWING THE LIONS
Stay up to date on all things Columbia Men's Tennis by following the Lions on X (@CULionsMTEN), Instagram (@culionsmten) and on Facebook (@ColumbiaAthletics).