With league play just weeks away, the Columbia men’s tennis team begins the nonconference portion of its schedule this weekend with two home matches. The Lions graduated three seniors last year, including two starters in the lineup, but the addition of a solid recruiting class and junior transfer standout Bogdan Borta should leave the Lions primed to make another run at an Ivy League title.
Friday, the Lions welcome the Binghamton University Bearcats, a team that the Lions defeated 7-0 last season. This Binghamton team should be much improved from last season according to head coach Bid Goswami. The Bearcats return three of their top four singles players, who combined to win an astounding 56 matches last season.
Topping the Bearcats’ lineup is senior standout Faisal Mohamed who will be looking to avenge a 6-1, 6-3 loss at the hands of Columbia’s Mark Clemente last season.
Mohamed enters this match with confidence, as he had a strong fall season going 8-3 and beating Columbia transfer Bogdan Borta 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in a three-set nail-biter at a regional tournament. Although Binghamton faces questions about the depth of its lineup, Goswami still thinks the Bearcats will challenge the Lions.
“This match should be a pretty good test to see how we stack up with the other teams,” Goswami said.
On Saturday, the Light Blue plays host to the Radford Highlanders, a team which it defeated 6-1 last season in a match that was much closer than the overall score indicates. Although the final match score was lopsided, most individual matches were close and decided by one break.
The Highlanders, unlike the Bearcats, come to Columbia having been picked to finish high up in their conference. They were ranked first in the Big South’s preseason coaches poll.
Heading the talented Radford lineup will be junior Martin Sayer, who is ranked in the top-15 nationally for NCAA men’s singles and is a member of Hong Kong’s Men’s Davis Cup team. In fact, Sayer will be flying to Hong Kong directly after the match on Saturday to play in Hong Kong’s upcoming match against Indonesia on Feb. 8.
Radford’s lineup brings an international flavor to the match as five of its top six singles players come from outside of the United States, including Morocco, Croatia, Hong Kong, and England. Last year, Sayer claimed Radford’s sole point in the 6-1 loss with a 6-1,6-4 win over Jared Drucker.
One important key to both matches, and Columbia’s season as a whole, will be the play of its doubles teams.
“Last year, the doubles teams got hot at the right time and really pulled us through some close matches in the Ivy League,” Goswami said. Although the three doubles matches combine for one point in the overall score, they were the deciding factor in three league wins for the Lions last season.
Columbia’s match with Binghamton begins at 2 p.m. on Friday with the Radford match beginning at 1 p.m. on Saturday. Both will be played at the Dick Savitt Tennis Center.
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