The men’s tennis team, ranked No. 59 in the most recent IT poll, continued its stellar campaign with the most successful spring break trip in recent memory, going 3-0, including a 4-3 upset win over No. 42 Texas Christian University. Columbia, the highest-ranked Ivy League team, already has its first Ivy win under its belt, with a 6-1 win at Cornell two weeks ago. In addition to beating TCU, Columbia also beat Southern Methodist University 4-3 and University of Texas at Arlington 5-1.
“I thought, this is the best Texas trip I’ve ever had,” head coach Bid Goswami said.
“Everything fell into place, couldn’t ask for anything better,” Goswami said. “When we play a good team like TCU, it’s easy to go from outside to inside, and it was good for us. I think we played as well as we could, and I think we took them by surprise.”
The Lions started off their spring break training trip with their biggest win in the past several years, with an upset of the TCU Horned Frogs. The match, originally planned to be played outdoors, was forced to move inside because of inclement weather, something that certainly benefited the Lions, who play and practice indoors year-round. The Lions played some of their best doubles of the season in winning the doubles point, which would prove to be crucial. Senior co-captains Jonathan Wong and Mihai Nichifor notched an 8-6 win at No. 1 doubles, and the duo of sophomore Haig Schneiderman and freshman Nathaniel Gery won 8-4 at No. 2 doubles, clinching the doubles point. At No. 3 doubles, sophomore Rajeev Deb-Sen and junior Kevin Kung found themselves up a break at 6-5 in the match, but were unable to hold the lead and fell 8-6.
Singles play started strongly for the Lions as well, who were led by Wong at No. 1 singles. Wong played some of his best tennis of the season in taking out Slah Mbarek 6-1, 6-2. Emanuel Brighiu, playing at No. 3 singles for TCU, won a tight battle against Schneiderman to make the score 2-1, as he won 6-4, 7-5. Freshman Cyril Bucher was the next Lion off the court, as he won his match in three sets. Bucher continued his resilient play and rebounded after dropping the first set, winning 1-6, 6-4, 6-4. Deb-Sen, playing at No. 5 singles, clinched the match for Columbia, winning his match 6-3, 2-6, 6-2. Nichifor was locked in a battle against the No. 99 Zach Nichols and ended up losing 7-6, 4-6, 6-4. Gery had to wait to play since there were only five courts, but was routed 6-1, 6-2, although the outcome of the match had already been decided.
Columbia continued its strong play against SMU in its first outdoor match of the season. Despite continuing their strong play in doubles from the day before, the Lions lost the doubles point, losing 8-6 at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles. SMU’s No. 2 doubles team came into the match ranked No. 20 in the nation. Wong and Nichifor won 8-6 at the top doubles spot.
At No. 1 singles again for Columbia was Jonathan Wong, who knocked out another tough opponent. This time he faced Artem Baradach, who was coming off a 6-1, 6-0 rout of the No. 7 player in the nation from Texas just the week before. Wong routed Baradach in the first set, taking it 6-0. Wong had a chance to serve out the match at 5-4 in the second but couldn’t do it. He held on later to go up 6-5, and when Baradach committed his second code abuse of the match, he was assessed a game penalty, which gave Wong the win, 6-0, 7-5. Bucher lost his match at No. 4 singles, 6-2, 2-6, 6-3, and Deb-Sen lost at No. 5, 2-6, 6-0, 7-5. Schneiderman won a tight match at No. 3 singles, winning 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. Kung, playing at No. 6 singles, found himself in the third set of the potentially deciding match, down 0-2, 0-40. Kung staged an improbable rally to win that game, and five of the next six, as he rallied to win the third set and the match, 6-4, 2-6, 6-3. The match came down to No. 2 singles. Nichifor had a match point in the second set, and just barely missed a return, and ended up losing the set in a tiebreak. Nichifor found a second win after Kung’s come-from-behind win, and dominated the third set, winning it 6-3, and winning the match 4-3 for Columbia.
“We started on the right note,” Goswami said, “and the next day was the first match that we played outside. We were running on adrenaline. We kept it up and started where we left off.”
“Mihai pulled out an unbelievable match where he was very tired in the end,” Goswami continued. “All the matches were done and it boiled down to him. Jon played very well and Mihai showed a lot of grit and determination. Kevin beat this guy who was playing No. 6, but last year he beat Bogdan [Borta] at No. 2 in three sets.”
After a day off, the Lions played their third match of the trip. The Lions swept the doubles point with relative ease, in stark contrast to their previous two matches. The Lions won 8-5 at No. 1, 8-6 at No. 2 and an 8-0 blanking at No. 3.
Gery got the Lions off to a strong start in singles play, winning 6-0, 6-1 at No. 6 singles.
“I thought Jon played really well,” Goswami said. “In fact, I haven’t seen him play three matches like that since—I can’t even remember. Before we left, his back was bothering him and he had exams, so he didn’t play that much, but he was absolutely a pleasant surprise for me.”
The lineup was adjusted because Nichifor was forced to sit the match out with an illness, so Kung played No. 5 singles, easily winning 6-1, 6-3. Wong found himself down 1-4 in the first set at No. 1 singles, but rallied to win the set and the match, 7-5, 6-3. Schneiderman moved up to play No. 2 singles, and won 6-3, 7-5. Deb-Sen’s match was halted with him leading in the third set after the outcome of the match had been decided. The only loss on the afternoon for Columbia was Bucher losing at No. 3 singles, 6-4, 6-3.
“I thought it was a total team effort from all of the guys who played,” Goswami said. “Everyone participated. Hopefully we can keep this up for a few more weeks.”
The Lions were scheduled to play a fourth and final match against Sacramento State, but the match was canceled due to inclement weather.
The Lions will host St. John’s on March 26, in a makeup for a match that was canceled earlier due to snow
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