No. 27 Men’s Tennis Downs Crimson

Saturday, April 18

1:00 PM

Columbia

Harvard

Photo by: Columbia University Athletics / Lem Photography

4/18/2026 6:24:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Lions move on spot closer to Ivy League title with 4-2 win on Saturday

NEW YORK – The 27th-ranked Columbia men's tennis team inched closer to capturing its third consecutive Ivy League crown with a 4-2 win over No. 41 Harvard at the Philip & Cheryl Milstein Family Tennis Center on Saturday afternoon.

With the win, the Lions improve to 15-6 on the year and are 5-0 in the Ivy League. They extend their winning streak to six matches and improve to 9-2 on their home courts this season.

Columbia took the early 1-0 advantage after securing a hard-fought doubles point. All three doubles matches went to tiebreaks. The Lions' duo of Michael Zheng and Nicolas Kotzen finished first with a 7-6(3) win over Harvard's Rohan Murali and Kolos Kincses. Serving 2-1 in the tiebreak, a Crimson return error gave Columbia a 3-1 advantage, and it didn't look back.

The Crimson evened the doubles point on court No. 2 when Melchior Delloye and Nathan Blokhin defeated Sachin Palta and Andrew Ena, 7-6(6).

On court No. 3, Thanaphat Boosarawongse and Abhishek Thorat held on to defeat James MacDonald and Masato Perera 7-6(2).

In singles play, Boosarawongse kept the momentum going with a straight-sets win over Delloye, 6-1, 6-2.

The Crimson made it a match, winning the next two singles points to tie it up at 2-2. Perara defeated Thorat 6-2, 6-4 on court No. 5 and No. 99 Nathan Blokhin defeated Palta 6-3, 6-4 on court No. 3.

Zheng, the No. 5-ranked singles player in the country, brought the Lions one point closer to victory with a 7-6(5), 6-4 win over No. 52 Rohan Murali. Kotzen closed it out on court No. 2 with a 7-6(3), 7-6(5) win over Benjamin Privera.

Aditya Govila forced a third set with stellar play in the second set on court six when his match was abandoned. His match against Mitchell Lee went 2-6, 7-6(6), 1-0.

The Lions return to action on Sunday when Dartmouth comes to the Milstein Family Tennis Center. Sunday's match against the Big Green is scheduled for a 1 p.m. first serve. Sunday will also be Senior Day at the Milstein Family Tennis Center. The Lions will pay tribute to their four graduating student-athletes in a post-match ceremony.

RESULTS
Singles
1. #5 Michael Zheng (COL) vs.#52 Rohan Murali (H), 7-6(5), 6-4
2. #37 Nicolas Kotzen (COL) vs. Benjamin Privara (H), 7-6(3), 7-6(5)
3. #99 Nathan Blokhin (H) def. #90 Sachin Palta (COL), 6-3, 6-4
4. Thanaphat Boosarawongse (COL) vs. Melchior Delloye (H), 6-1, 6-2
5. Masato Perera (H) def. Abhishek Thorat (COL), 6-2, 6-4
6. Aditya Govila (COL) vs. Mitchell Lee (H), 2-6, 7-6(6), 1-0 unfinished

Doubles
1. Michael Zheng/Nicolas Kotzen (COL) def. Rohan Murali/Kolos Kincses (H) 7-6(3)
2. Melchior Delloye/Nathan Blokhin (H) def. Sachin Palta/Andrew Ena (COL), 7-6(6)
3. Thanaphat Boosarawongse/Abhishek Thorat (COL) def. James MacDonald/Masato Perera (H), 7-6(2)

Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (4,5,3,1,2)

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