No. 6 Men’s Tennis Set for ITA National Team Indoor Championships

Friday, February 14

Waco, Texas

1:00 PM ET

Columbia University

#11 Stanford

No. 6 Men’s Tennis Set for ITA National Team Indoor Championships

2/13/2025 6:45:00 PM | Men's Tennis

ITA Event Page

Columbia plays No. 11 Stanford in the first round Friday

By: Garret Sulak

WACO, Texas – The sixth-ranked Columbia men's tennis team returns to the ITA National Team Indoor Championships for the second straight season as action begins Friday in Waco.

This year's 16-team draw is split into two sites with teams seeded one through eight at each site. Columbia was assigned to the Waco bracket and secured the No. 3 seed. The Lions will meet the No. 6 seed and 11^th-ranked Stanford in the first round on Friday at 1 p.m. ET. Columbia will then face Ohio State or UCF on Saturday. The rest of the schedule for the weekend will play out based on Columbia's results in the first two matches.

Columbia returns to compete at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships for the seventh time in the past 11 years. This season marks the 10^th time Columbia has competed in the event since it began in 1973. Columbia has won two consolation matches its last four times at the event (2018, 2019, 2020, 2024) but is still searching for its first main draw quarterfinal appearance.

LIVE COVERAGE
Action from Baylor's Jim and Nell Hawkins Indoor Tennis Center this weekend will be streamed live with commentary through the ITA Youtube channel. Fans can also follow live scores for all matches this weekend through IOnCourt.

LIONS IN THE ITA RANKINGS
Columbia was represented well in the most recent ITA singles and doubles rankings released last week. Three Lions are ranked inside the top 50 of singles, while five doubles pairs earned rankings.

Michael Zheng continues to sit at the top of the ITA Division I singles rankings after claiming the NCAA title in November. Nicolas Kotzen sits at No. 40 and Hugo Hashimoto follows at No. 41.

The duo of Zheng and Hashimoto earned the highest doubles ranking for the Lions at No. 14. Zheng and Kotzen came in at No. 45 and Kotzen and Westphal secured a No. 47 ranking to finish in the top 50. Hashimoto and Jayden Templeman are ranked No. 62. Sachin Palta and Westphal round out the list of ranked Lions at No. 86.

Singles
#1 – Michael Zheng
#40 – Nicolas Kotzen
#41 – Hugo Hashimoto

Doubles
#14 – Michael Zheng, Hugo Hashimoto
#45 – Michael Zheng, Nicolas Kotzen
#47 – Nicolas Kotzen, Max Westphal
#62 – Hugo Hashimoto, Jayden Templeman
#86 – Sachin Palta, Max Westphal

LAST TIME OUT
Columbia went 1-1 last weekend against a pair of Top 20 opponents at the Milstein Family Tennis Center. The Lions opened the weekend by hosting No. 2 Wake Forest last Saturday. Columbia battled down the stretch as Michael Zheng and Max Westphal earned singles victories, but the Lions ultimately came up short to the Demon Deacons, 5-2.

Looking to bounce back after a tough loss, Columbia faced No. 20 Michigan last Sunday. The Wolverines won the doubles point to start the match, but Columbia rebounded to win four singles matches to secure a 4-1 team victory. Zheng, Hugo Hashimoto, Sachin Palta and Thanaphat Boosarawonge contributed singles victories to help Columbia earn the team win.

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).