Doehler, Svenning Win in Straight Sets as Yale Falls to Penn 5-2 in Ivy Opener
PHILADELPHIA, P.A. – The Yale men's tennis team kicked off its 2016 Ivy League season away from home on Saturday, taking on Penn at the Hecht Tennis Center in Philadelphia. Although the Bulldogs came into the match with a better overall record, the Quakers – who secured a national ranking after highlight victories over No. 42 Dartmouth and No. 60 New Mexico earlier this season – looked to be one of Yale's toughest opponents so far. It is in these matches that the Elis may feel the significant absence of star Tyler Lu, who has been out with a long-term injury; the junior certainly would have helped the cause in a difficult match that saw Penn take seven of nine total matches. Despite the disappointing 5-2 score line, the Bulldogs can take away several positives from Saturday's performance, among them most notably the play of Stefan Doehler and Martin Svenning, who demonstrated that they can compete with and succeed against the nation's best.
Saturday's match began with a fiercely contested doubles round. After Yale's No. 2 team fell to Penn's Matt Nardella and Thomas Spratt 6-3, Jason Brown and Alex Hagermoser elevated their play in the No. 3 spot. In the end, however, they suffered a service break and fell 6-4; Yale's Fedor Andrienko and Stefan Doehler also experienced a similar fate at No. 1 doubles, dropping a narrow 7-5 set to Penn's Austin Kaplan and Nicholai Westergaard. Considering Kaplan and Westergaard are currently ranked the No. 68 doubles team in the country, Andrienko and Doehler performed quite well to come just a few points short of victory.
After narrowly dropping the doubles point, the Elis initially struggled to establish momentum in single. At No. 2 singles, Andrienko fell to Penn's Vim De Alwis 6-2, 6-1; and in the No. 3 spot, Hagermoser lost by a similar margin to the Quakers' Josh Pompan. Finding themselves in a 3-0 hole, the Bulldogs refused to fold and mounted a significant comeback. Next to finish was Doehler at No. 6 singles, as the sophomore downed Penn's Kaplan, 6-4, 6-0; this result improved Doehler's record to an impressive 6-1 in his last seven matches. Yale's Martin Svenning also secured an important victory in the No. 4 spot, beating Penn's Matt Nardella in a masterful 6-3, 6-4 performance. Along with Doehler, Svenning has been one of Yale's hottest players of late, and Saturday's win marked his seventh consecutive singles victory.
With the match score at 3-2 and the momentum on their side, the Elis looked on the verge of a remarkable comeback. Penn's Blaine Willenborg ended Yale's hopes, however, with a narrow 7-5, 6-4 win over Dennis Wang at No. 5 singles; although the Yale freshman threatened Willenborg in both sets, the Penn senior was better able to convert on his break opportunities. With the match already decided in the Quakers' favor, Yale's Ziqi Wang easily could have given up; instead, the Bulldog finished the day proudly for Yale in a 6-4, 7-6 loss in the top singles spot. Wang's performance is particularly impressive considering his opponent, Kyle Mautner, had beaten several players ranked in the top 100 nationally.
It should also be noted that Yale's Photos Photiades won a marathon exhibition match on Saturday, edging Penn's Dmitry Shatalin 2-6, 7-5, (15-13). The junior's remarkable super tiebreak performance will certainly go down as a season highlight.
Though the Elis will be disappointed not to have completed a comeback on Saturday, they can take pride in the fact that they held their own against such elite opposition. Tomorrow marks Yale's next chance to notch its first Ivy League win, as the Bulldogs will travel to New Jersey and take on No. 35 Princeton. Sunday's match is set to begin at 1:00 p.m.
Report by Cameron Ferguson '18, Yale Sports Publicity
FULL MATCH RESULTS -- Penn 5, Yale 2
Doubles
1. Kaplan/Westergaard (P) def. Andrienko/Doehler (Y), 7-5
2. Nardella/Spratt (P) def. Photiades/Svenning (Y), 6-3
3. Shatalin/Willenborg (P) def. J. Brown/Hagermoser (Y), 6-4
Singles
1. Mautner (P) def. Z. Wang (Y), 6-4; 7-6
2. De Alwis (P) def. Andrienko (Y), 6-1; 6-2
3. Pompan (P) def. Hagermoser (Y), 6-3; 6-0
4. Svenning (Y) def. Nardella (P), 6-3; 6-4
5. Willenborg (P) def. D. Wang (Y), 7-5; 6-4
6. Doehler (Y) def. Kaplan (P), 6-4; 6-0
Exhibition – Photiades (Y) def. Shatalin (P), 2-6; 7-5; (15-13)
