MAYFIELD, Ohio – The University of Chicago men's tennis team defeated Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 5-4 on Friday morning in the first round of the ITA Division III National Team Indoor Championship.
The Maroons (6-0 record) won their sixth-straight match while the Stags dropped to 4-2.
UChicago entered the three-day tournament as the No. 6 seed in the eight-team field. CMS came in as the No. 3 seed. The two teams last met in the semifinals at this event in 2020, with the Stags prevailing 5-4.
The Maroons started off strong, taking wins in the top two doubles spots. Sophomore Derek Hsieh and junior Christian Alshon defeated their opponents 8-6 at No. 1, while first-year Andrei Leonov and sophomore Arjun Asokumar won by the same margin at No. 2.
Singles was a back-and-forth affair with three matches going to third sets. Alshon posted an impressive 6-0, 6-3 victory at No. 2, and Hsieh prevailed at No. 3 by scores of 6-3, 7-6. Senior Alex Guzhva clinched the match at No. 4, rallying from a one-set deficit (0-6, 6-3, 6-2) to give the Maroons the point needed to win. UChicago now advances to Saturday morning's semifinals.
"We knew coming in that playing CMS would be an absolute battle and that's exactly what it was," Head Coach Jay Tee said. "We delivered the first punch in doubles with a pair of hard-fought wins, but CMS came out swinging and delivered some body blows early, taking four of six first sets quickly. The guys really showed some fight and grit in the second sets and found a way to put some pressure on their opponents by forcing the action and tightening up on the errors. We needed Christian's quick win for some momentum, which Derek followed up by breaking back at 5-6 and delivering a dominant 7-1 breaker to win his match. Guzhva did what Guzhva does and played unreal under pressure to clinch the team win."
UChicago 5, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 4
Singles
1. Robert Liu (CMS) def. Arjun Asokumar (UC) 6-2, 3-6, 2-2
2. Christian Alshon (UC) def. Jack Katzman (CMS) 6-0, 6-3
3. Derek Hsieh (UC) def. Ethan Carroll (CMS) 6-3, 7-6
4. Alex Guzhva (UC) def. Ian Freer (CMS) 0-6, 6-3, 6-2
5. Christopher Li (CMS) def. Andrei Leonov (UC) 6-1, 6-1
6. Matthew Robinson (CMS) def. Shramay Dhawan (UC) 6-1, 3-6, 6-2
Doubles
1. Derek Hsieh/Christian Alshon (UC) def. Jack Katzman/Robert Liu (CMS) 8-6
2. Arjun Asokumar/Andrei Leonov (UC) def. Ian Freer/Ethan Carroll (CMS) 8-6
3. Christopher Li/Matthew Robinson (CMS) def. Julius Kim/Pat Otero (UC) 8-5
NEXT MATCH:
- Saturday, Feb. 26 @ 9:00 AM (ET) – UChicago vs. Washington University – St. Louis (at Mayfield, Ohio)
