NEW HAVEN, CONN. – The Columbia men's tennis program wrapped up a busy split week with Nicolas Kotzen finishing his run in the ITA All-American Championships in Tulsa, Ok., closer to home, a trio of Lions wrapped up the weekend competing at the Yale Invitational in New Haven, Conn.
Kotzen, ranked No. 20 in the ITA Preseason Poll, opened play on Wednesday at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center in Tulsa, taking on Baylor's Ioan Alexandru Chirita in the round of 64 in the main draw. Kotzen made quick work of Chirita, winning in straight sets 6-1, 6-3.
On Thursday, in the round of 32, Kotzen squared off against TCU's Duncan Chan (No. 106). Chan got the better of Kotzen, winning 6-3, 6-4 to send the Columbia senior to the consolation bracket.
Kotzen played two matches on Friday. He opened the day with a straight-sets win over No. 50 Oscar Lacides of Oklahoma, winning 6-3, 7-6(11-9). Later in the afternoon, Kotzen fell to Mississippi State's Peter Jovanovic (No. 31), 6-3, 6-4.
In New Haven, the Lions' newcomers, Aditya Govila, Abhishek Thorat, and Andrew Ena, competed in singles and doubles events over the three-day competition.
Thorat and Ena went 2-0 as doubles partners. Thorat went 2-1 in singles play, including a convincing straight-sets win over Princeton's Aleksandar Mitric, 6-1, 6-2. Ena also went 1-1 in singles play and earned a 6-2, 6-3 win over Princeton's Meecah Bigun on Saturday.
Govila partnered with Princeton's Sawyer Severeance and went 1-2 on the weekend. In singles play, Govila went 3-0. He wrapped up his busy weekend with a 1-6, 7-6(7-4), 6-1 win over Yale's Eric Li in singles play.
Columbia returns to action early this week when Michael Zheng competes in the ATP Challenger 75 beginning Monday or Tuesday. The rest of the Lions will travel to University Park, Pa., to participate in the Holes Cathrall Memorial Invitational hosted by Penn State.
ITA All-American Championship Results
MAIN DRAW - Wed. Sept. 24
Singles
R64 Nicolas Kotzen (COL) def. Ioan Alexandru Chirita (BAY), 6-1, 6-3
MAIN DRAW - Thurs. Sept. 25
Singles
R32 Duncan Chan (TCU) def. Nicolas Kotzen (COL), 6-3, 6-4
CONSOLATION - Friday. Sept. 26
Singles
CR32 Nicolas Kotzen (COL) def. Oscar Lacides (OKL), 6-3, 7-6(11-9)
CR16 Petar Jovanovic (Miss St.) def. Nicolas Kotzen (COL), 6-3, 6-4
Yale Invitational Results
DAY 1 Results - Fri. Sept. 26
Doubles
Rushil Khosla/Aman Sharma (COR) def. Aditya Govila (COL)/Sawyer Severance (PRI) 6-2
Abhishek Thorat/Andrew Ena (COL) def. Nejc Skorjanc/Soma Fukuhara (NJIT) 6-1
Singles
Aditya Govila (COL) def. Rushil Khosla (COR) 3-6, 2-1 ret.
Abhishek Thorat (COL) def. Nejc Skorjanc (NJIT) 6-0, 6-1
Soma Fukuhara (NJIT) def. Andrew Ena (COL) 6-4, 6-3
DAY 2 Results - Sat. Sept. 27
Doubles
Abhishek Thorat/Andrew Ena (COL) def. Aleksandar Mitric/Meecah Bigun (PRI), 6-4
Aditya Govila (COL)/Sawyer Severance (PRI) def. Maxime Hankins/Tom Sorin (NJIT), 6-1
Singles
Aditya Govila (COL) def. Maxime Hankins (NJIT), 6-2, 6-4
Abhishek Thorat (COL) def. Aleksandar Mitric (PRI), 6-1, 6-2
Andrew Ena (COL) def. Meecah Bigun (PRI), 6-2, 6-3
Day 3 Results - Sun. Sept. 28
Doubles
Abhishek Thorat (COL)/Maxime Hankins (NJIT) def. Jim Ji/Varun Verma (YALE), 6-3
Soma Fukuhara/Nejc Skorjanc (NJIT) def. Aditya Govila (COL)/Sawyer Severance (PRI), 6-4
Singles
Aditya Govila (COL) def. Eric Li (YALE) 1-6, 7-6(7-4), 6-1
Jim Ji (YALE) def. Abhishek Thorat (COL), 6-3, 4-6, 6-3
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