NEW YORK – The No. 7 Columbia men's tennis team is headed to the ITA National Team Indoor Championships for the second consecutive season after a 4-2 victory over No. 24 Florida on Sunday afternoon.
In doubles, Max Westphal and Sachin Palta made quick work of the Gators' Adithya Ganesan and Ben Weintraub in the No. 2 slot, 6-2. Minutes later, the No. 1 pair of Michael Zheng and Nicolas Kotzen topped Henry Jefferson and Tanapatt Nirundorn, 6-3, to pick up the doubles point.
Thanaphat Boosarawonges swept through his singles matchup against Ben Weintraub, 6-0, 6-0, in No. 6 action to double the Lions' advantage. Zheng followed up with a straight-set triumph over Ganesan at No. 1 to put Columbia on the brink of victory.
The rest of the singles matches were tightly contested with the Gators picking up wins at No. 5 and No. 3 action to cut the Columbia lead to 3-2.
After winning the first set at No. 4, Hugo Hashimoto overcame an early second-set deficit to take a 5-3 set before Tanapat Nirundorn fought off several match points to force a tiebreak. Hashimoto buckled down to win 7-of-8 points to clinch the match.
The ITA National Indoor Championships will be hosted by Baylor and SMU from February 14-17. Matchups and exact locations will be determined at a later date.
RESULTS
No. 7 Columbia 4, No. 24 Florida 2
Doubles
1. #75 Michael Zheng/Nicolas Kotzen (COL) def. #16 Henry Jefferson/Tanapatt Nirundorn (UF), 6-3
2. Max Westphal/Sachin Palta (COL) def. Adithya Ganesan/Ben Weintraub (UF), 6-2
3. Hugo Hashimoto/Jayden Templeman (COL) vs. Jeremy Jin/Kevin Edengren (UF), 4-3 (Unfinished)
Singles
1. #1 Michael Zheng (COL) def. Adhithya Ganesan (UF), 6-4, 6-2
2. #42 Nicolas Kotzen (COL) vs. #41 Jeremy Jin (UF), 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), unfinished
3. #106 Henry Jefferson (UF) def. Max Westphal (COL), 7-5, 6-4
4. #33 Hugo Hashimoto (COL def. Tanapatt Nirundorn (UF), 6-4, 7-6 (7-1)
5. Kevin Edengren (UF) def. Sachin Palto (COL), 6-3, 6-2
6. Thanaphat Boosarawonges (COL) def. Ben Weintraub (UF), 6-0, 6-0
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1); Singles (6,1,5,3,4)
UP NEXT
Columbia returns to action Friday, January 31, when it welcomes Hofstra to the Philip & Cheryl Milstein Family Tennis Center. First serve is set for 6 p.m.
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