MIDDLEBURY, Vt. – The Brandeis University men's tennis team reached six finals and won three draw championships this weekend at their season-opening Middlebury Invitational.
The Judges' greatest success came in doubles action, where they represented three of the four pairings to reach the finals in the two draws.
In the 'A' flight, the pairing of senior Jackson Kogan (Los Angeles, Calif./Windward School) and rookie Adam Tzeng (Eagle, Idaho/Eagle) took home the first championship. They knocked off Schuermann and Hwang from Colby, 8-4, in the opening round. In the quarterfinals, they upset top-seeded and host pairing of Cuba and Eazor in a tiebreaker, 9-8 (7-2). After taking down Sorkin and Grant of Tufts in the semifinals, 8-5, the Judges owned a 4-0 lead on Quijano and Glover of Bates before the Bobcat duo were forced to retire, giving the title to the Judges.
In the 'B' flight, Brandeis pairings made up the 1st and 3rd seeds, and the Judges did not disappoint, with both reaching the finals. The top seeds were 2018 NCAA tournament qualifier Anupreeth Coramutla (Monroe Township, N.J. / Phillips Andover), a sophomore, paired with rookie Colt Tegtmeier (Madison, Wisc./James Madison Memorial). They played a series of tight matches, defeating Reiter and Messinger of Colby, 9-8 (7-2), in the opening round and Sutton and Gregory of Middlebury, 9-7, in the quarters. It was another tiebreaker in the semifinals, where they bested Wu and Niguidula of RPI, 9-8 (7-5). On the bottom half of the draw, the third-seeded sophomore pairing of Rajan Vohra (Glen Head, N.Y. / North Shore) and Nikhil Das (Smithfield, R.I. / Moses Brown School) had an easier time of things. They bested Yu and Teruyama of RPI, 8-4, and Geier and Kennedy of Bates, 8-1, to reach the semifinals. In the semis, the Judges topped Shaff and Moldenhauer of Tufts, 8-5, to meet their teammates. It was Vohra and Das who prevailed in the finals, 8-5.
In singles action, the Judges posted a victory in the 'D' bracket, where senior Tyler Ng (Great Neck, N.Y./Great Neck South) won the bracket without dropping a set. Seeded third, he opened with a 6-0, 6-1, win over Kevin Ha of Skidmore, then defeated Cole Sutton of host Middlebury, 6-2, 6-2, in the second round. In the semifinals, Ng met second seed Niko Hereford of Tufts and emerged with a 6-3, 6-3, victory, then clinched the title in the finals with a 6-4, 6-4, win over Tristan Thiebault of Skidmore.
The Judges also produced finalists in the 'B' and 'C' flights. In the 'B' flight, it was Coramutla, who knocked off fourth-seeded Dylan Payne of RPI in the first round, 7-5, 6-1, and easily dispatched Peter Martin of Middlebury, 6-2, 6-1, in the second. He outlasted Carl Grant of Tufts, 4-6, 6-2, 10-3, in a super tie-breaker in the semifinals before falling to second-seeded Stanley Morris of Middlebury in the finals, 6-4, 6-2.
In the 'C' flight, Brandeis owned the top two seeds in Vohra and Kogan. Kogan won his first two matches, 6-4, 6-4, over Suraj Mahtani of Skidmore and 7-6 (7-5), 1-6, 12-10, over Jack Moldenhauer of Tufts in a marathon. Kogan faced two more tiebreakers in the semifinals, but couldn't overcome Isaac Gorelik of Tufts, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-4). On the top half of the draw, Vohra needed to super tiebreakers to reach the semis. He held off Andrew Imrie of RPI, 3-6, 6-4, 10-5, then took down Aleks Samets of Middlebury, 6-2, 4-6, 10-1. In the semifinals, Vohra defeated another Panther, Weston Brach, 6-1, 6-3, but dropped a 6-1, 6-1 decision to Gorelik of Tufts in the finals.
In the 'A' bracket, Tzeng defeated Clayton Thompson of RPI, 7-5, 5-7, 10-8, in the opening round, but fell to Ben Biswas of Tufts, 6-1, 6-4, in the second. Das defeated Middlebury's Andre Xiao, 6-2, 6-2, but fell to eventual champion Boris Sorkin of Tufts, 6-1, 6-1, in the second round.
The Judges return to action in two weeks for the ITA New England Regional, which will also be held at Middlebury.