NEW YORK – The 10th-ranked Columbia men's tennis team battled their way to a 7-0 win over visiting No. 47 Penn on Friday afternoon at the Philip & Cheryl Milstein Family Tennis Center.
The Lions' depth (14-4, 4-0 Ivy) was on display as Columbia got big wins from all over the roster. With the win, the Lions remain undefeated in Ivy League play and have yet to surrender a point to their opponents.
The Lions secured the spirited doubles point, winning at the No. 1 and No. 3 courts. Columbia's duo of
Michael Zheng and
Nicolas Kotzen won their match 6-2 over Penn's Sanjeev Chundu and Aaron Sandler.
The No. 2 and No. 3 matches proved to be a battle. The Quaker's duo of Manfredi Graziani and Shaurya Bharadwaj held on to defeat the Lions' duo of
Max Westphal and
Sachin Palta, 6-4. In the No. 3 spot,
Hugo Hashimoto and
Jayden Templeman came back from 3-0 deficit to secure the doubles point with a thrilling 6-4 victory over Tal Goodman and Parashar Bharadwaj.
In singles play,
Hugo Hashimoto made quick work of his opponent, defeating Penn's Shaurya Baradwaj 6-1, 6-0. The remainder of the singles matches were a grind.
Max Westphal earned a hard-fought straight sets win, defeating Sanjeev Chundu 6-4, 6-3 to bring the Lions closer to victory.
Sachin Palta secured the match, defeating Justin Chung 6-3, 6-4 at the No. 5 spot.
The two sides played out the remainder of the singles matches, with
Michael Zheng defeating Manfredi Graziana 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, (10-6) in a battle.
Thanaphat Boosarawongse defeated Matthew Rutter in a straight-sets match at the No. 6 spot, winning 7-6 (8-6), 6-1.
Nicolas Kotzen closed out the day with a 6-7 (4-7), 6-2, (10-4) victory over Tal Goodman at the No. 2 spot.
RESULTS
#10 Columbia 7, #47 Penn 0
Singles
1. #1
Michael Zheng (COL) def. Manfredi Graziani (PENN) 6-7 (5-7), 6-4 (10-6)
2. #53
Nicolas Kotzen (COL) def. Tal Goodman (PENN) 6-7 (4-7), 6-2, (10-4)
3.
Max Westphal (COL) def. Sanjeev Chundu (PENN) 6-4, 6-3
4. #74
Hugo Hashimoto (COL) def. Shaurya Baradwaj (PENN) 6-1, 6-0
5.
Sachin Palta (COL) def. Justin Chung (PENN) 6-3, 6-4
6.
Thanaphat Boosarawongse (COL) def. Matthew Rutter (PENN) 7-6 (8-6), 6-1
Doubles
1. #42
Michael Zheng/
Nicolas Kotzen (COL) def. Sanjeev Chundu/Aaron Sandler (PENN) 6-2
2. Manfredi Graziani/Shaurya Bharadwaj (PENN) def.
Max Westphal/
Sachin Palta (COL) 6-4
3.
Hugo Hashimoto/
Jayden Templeman def. Tal Goodman/ Parashar Bharadwaj (PENN) 6-4
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (4,3,5,2,6,1 )
UP NEXT
Columbia returns to action on Sunday, April 13 when they travel to Princeton, N.J. for a showdown against No. 30 Princeton. That match is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.
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