No. 10 Men’s Tennis Begins Spring Season at Home

Friday, January 16

5:30 P.M.

Columbia University

Bucknell

Photo by: Columbia University Athletics

No. 10 Men’s Tennis Begins Spring Season at Home

1/15/2026 1:15:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Lions host Bucknell Friday, No. 18 South Carolina on Sunday

NEW YORK – The 10th-ranked Columbia men's tennis team begins the 2026 spring campaign this weekend when Bucknell and No. 18 South Carolina come to the Philip & Cheryl Milstein Family Tennis Center. Friday's match against the Bison is scheduled for a 5:30 p.m. start, Sunday's dual against the Gamecocks is slated for a noon first serve. Both matches are free and open to the public.

LIVE COVERAGE
Action from the Milstein Family Tennis Center this weekend will be broadcast live through Columbia's stretch portal. Fans can also follow live scores online for both matches this weekend.

LIONS IN THE ITA RANKINGS
In the initial ITA ranking of the 2026 season, the Lions are ranked No. 10. Individually, three Lions were ranked in the preseason list, led by Michael Zheng at No. 1. Nicolas Kotzen checks in at No. 52, while Sachin Palta is ranked No. 65. In doubles play, the duo of Thanaphat Boosarawongse and Aditya Govila is ranked No. 37.

FALL RECAP
Columbia had a strong fall, with the entire roster gaining valuable experience. Collectively, the Lions went 91-64 in singles and 64-49 in doubles across 10 events. Zheng led the way, going 12-1 in limited action, followed by N. Kotzen, who went 12-5. Jung Hee You went 11-5 in singles play. Jordan Chang won 10 matches playing in doubles, while Boosarwongse led the Lions with 11 wins in doubles play.

MEET THE SQUAD
Columbia's 2025-25 squad features 12 Lions, consisting of three seniors (Zheng, N. Kotzen, Palta), two juniors (Jakub Katuch and Tristan Lee) and a talented group of underclassmen, including four sophomores (Boosarawongse, You, Andrew Kotzen, Jordan Chang) and three freshmen (Abhishek Thorat, Andrew Ena, and Aditya Govila).

LOOKING BACK AT 2025
Columbia followed up a historic 2024 season with another remarkable run in 2025. The Lions went 20-5 last spring, capturing the program's 18th Ivy League Championship and advancing to the NCAA quarterfinals for the second consecutive year. Columbia's only losses in the spring came against No. 11 Stanford, No. 4 Ohio State, No. 21 Pepperdine, and No. 1 Wake Forest twice, the latter coming in the NCAA quarters. The Lions finished the year ranked No. 8 in the final ITA rankings.

SCOUTING BUCKNELL
The Bison return almost their entire roster from last year's team that went 19-7 en route to a Patriot League Championship. Back for Bucknell are Patriot League Player of the Year Amar Tahirovic and Patriot League Tournament MVP and First Team All-Patriot League selection Adam Stavrakas.

SERIES HISTORY VERSUS BUCKNELL
Friday's match will be the first-ever dual meet between Bucknell and Columbia.

SCOUTING THE GAMECOCKS
South Carolina enters Sunday's contest with a No. 18 ranking in the ITA polls. South Carolina is one of six teams ranked in the top-25 on the Lions' spring slate this year. The Gamecocks are 2-0 after wins over North Florida and the Citadel last week. Four Gamecocks currently have ITA singles and doubles rankings. Sophomore Paul Barbier Gazeu leads the team in singles at No. 55, followed by Lucas da Silva, who is ranked No. 80 and Max Stenzer at No. 104. In doubles play, Sean Daryabeigi is ranked No. 31 with playing partner Stenzer and 88th with da Silva.

SERIES HISTORY VERSUS SOUTH CAROLINA
According to Columbia's history, Sunday's dual will be the third meeting between the Lions and Gamecocks, with Columbia holding a 3-0 advantage in a series dating back to 1970. Last time out, Columbia defeated South Carolina 4-2 at the ITA Indoor Nationals in Madison, Wis., on Feb. 15, 2020.

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).