No. 34 Princeton men’s tennis (19–6 overall, 3–0 Ivy League) fought past No. 14 Harvard (15–5, 2–1) in a hard-fought battle featuring a pivotal performance in the deciding match from first-year Milan Markovits to secure the 4–3 win. The following day, the Tigers earned a clean Senior Day 7–0 sweep against Dartmouth (11–8, 0–3).
The successive wins for Princeton pushed them into pole position for Ivy League play, and the team cited the crowd as a major factor that helped them over the finish line this past weekend.
“The crowd was crucial in our win,” sophomore Landon Ardila told The Daily Princetonian. “Since moving from [the facility at] Jadwin to Meadows, we have seen the crowd levels surge: everyone wants to be at Meadows and stay there for the whole match, whereas Jadwin was tough to get the crowd to stay.”
Long-overdue revenge over Harvard
The victory against Harvard finally snapped the Tigers’ nine-match losing streak against the Crimson. After winning only three of their last 20 meetings, it came as an especially satisfying success given that Harvard had taken the Ivy League title from men’s tennis just last season.
“The team and I are ecstatic after such a close win,” Ardila told the ‘Prince.’ “After losing a tight match last year for the Ivy title, it means everything to be able to turn it around and get the clinch[ing] win in our favor.”
Princeton took an early lead by seizing the doubles point thanks to wins from the junior pair of Fnu Nidunjianzan and Ellis Short and sophomores Landon Ardila and Aleksander Mitric, who cleaned up shortly after.
Necessary singles performances from sophomore and No. 40-ranked Paul Inchauspe over ranked No. 94 Benjamin Privara (4–6, 7–5, 6–1), combined with an efficient win from Ardila and a riveting three-set win from Markovits, led the Tigers past the Crimson in dramatic fashion.
The players cited specific adjustments made throughout the season to avenge the 2–4 loss earlier in the year.
“Given the season we’ve had so far, [we] definitely needed to adjust a lot as it’s gone on,” junior captain Sebastian Sec told the ‘Prince.’ “[We’ve had] a lot of ups and downs, and I think it’s made us stronger as a unit.”
“I also think that because of our coaches and relying on each other,” Sec continued. “Our confidence never faded and that’s allowed us to continue improving and ultimately pull off big wins.”
Dominating Dartmouth
The second day of Ivy League play culminated in a swift victory against Dartmouth 7–0, with duos Inchauspe and senior Filippos Astreinidis and Short and Nidunjianzan taking quick doubles points to start the day. Soon after, a series of six dominant singles wins followed to end the weekend with plenty of positives for the team.
Sunday also was Senior Day for men’s tennis, during which the four seniors on the team — Aidan Mahoney, Alan Kam, Matthew Bosancic, and Astreinidis — were all honored for their deep and longstanding contributions to the program.
Princeton extended their winning streak against Dartmouth to six in a row, having won seven of their last 10 meetings.
Back-to-back victories against two strong Ivy League rivals resulted in heightened confidence for the team. “First of all, we might not be highly ranked but every one of us knows we can take out any team on our schedule with a consistent performance throughout the lineup,” said Ardila.
Looking forward, the team is optimistic about upcoming conference matches. Ahead lie the highly ranked Cornell and Columbia, followed by Yale and Brown to conclude Ivy play leading into NCAAs.
“We have four matches left, the goal is to go undefeated and get the Ivy title,” Sec told the ‘Prince.’ Columbia is the most notable opponent since they have been consistently top 10 in the past five years or so.
Spirits remain high as Princeton marches into the final stretch of their season, seeking the Ivy League title to avenge their heartbreaking loss last year, all leading into the NCAA tournament. With confidence soaring after picking up a pair of dominant wins, all eyes are on the Tigers for these crucial next few weeks.
Even beyond the Ivy League tournament, Sec and the Tigers are looking ahead.
“However the remainder of the season finishes, we hope to make a push in the NCAA tournament,” Sec told the ‘Prince.’ “Assuming it goes well, I think we will have tremendous momentum in the tournament."
Lily Pampolina is an associate Sports editor for the ‘Prince.’
Jay Crowther is a Sports contributor for the ‘Prince.’
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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