Men’s tennis opens Ivy play against rival Cornell

The Columbia men’s tennis team will begin its quest to defend its Ivy title as it travels to Cornell to compete in its first conference match of the season. The two teams faced off just over three weeks ago in the semifinals of the Eastern Conference Athletic Championships, where Columbia advanced with a hard-fought 5-2 win over Cornell, despite losing the doubles point. Although the Lions won the Ivy title last spring, the Big Red tied for second and closed its season with four straight wins.

With the team playing in Ithaca this weekend, Lions head coach Bid Goswami expects another tough match.

“Even though the score was 5-2, I think we dodged a bullet that day,” Goswami said. “We competed very well, but we didn’t play that well. We absolutely refused to lose.”

In their earlier matchup this season, the Lions lost the doubles point to Cornell, losing close matches, 8-5, at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles. The lone bright spots in doubles were sophomore Rajeev Deb-Sen and junior Kevin Kung, who defeated their opponents at No. 3 doubles, 8-4.

The Lions saw better results in singles that afternoon. Led by top singles player Jon Wong, the Lions got wins at Nos. 1, 2 and 3 singles. Wong, at No. 1 singles, won in three tight sets despite battling a back injury at the time. Mihai Nichifor and Haig Schneiderman won easily at No. 2 and No. 3 singles. Freshman Cyril Bucher had a tough day, however, as he was beaten thoroughly by Jonathan Fife, the Ivy League Rookie of the Year two years ago, in straight sets. The match was decided at No. 5 and No. 6 singles, where Deb-Sen and junior Sho Matsumoto won key matches in three sets to give the Lions the win. Both Lions players lost the first set, but bounced back to win the next two sets.

“Since then we have been working really hard in doubles,” Goswami said. “I think we are playing much better doubles, but ultimately the proof is in the pudding.”

The Lions won the doubles point in their most recent outing against George Washington on Sunday, but the top doubles team of Nichifor and Wong was defeated 8-3 by George Washington’s top duo.

Another advantage for Cornell is the fact that the match will be played in Ithaca.

“Last time it was on neutral grounds,” Goswami said of the ECACs. “This time it’s on their court. They normally draw a big, rowdy crowd on Saturday afternoons, also.”

The last time the Lions played in Ithaca, they narrowly escaped with a 4-3 win.

“The last time, we were down match point to them before Mark [Clemente] hit a big ace,” Goswami said.

Typically, the Lions play their first Ivy match after their spring break training trip, but a change in Cornell’s spring break is forcing the match to be played almost three weeks earlier than usual, and almost a full month before the next Ivy match.

“I don’t think it should matter,” Goswami said of the earlier date. “At least we know that we are playing indoors. If we played later, we could have been playing outdoors. And I think we have played enough matches—we played Indiana, Arkansas, and both of those are top-50 teams. Then we played the ECACs, too. I think we’re prepared.”

Goswami pointed to one major change from the first time the two teams met earlier this season.

“I knew doubles was a problem after the match,” he said, “and so we’ve worked really hard on it.”

The Lions will begin Ivy play on Saturday at 12 p.m. in Ithaca, N.Y.