Chen and Tzeng reach ITA tournament doubles semifinals

Adam and Jeff slap hands during last year's NCAA championship match (Courtesy Jacob Dye, ITA)
Adam and Jeff slap hands during last year's NCAA championship match (Courtesy Jacob Dye, ITA)
Posted: Sep 26, 2021

BRUNSWICK, Maine -- All-American seniors Jeffrey Chen (Northfield, Ill./New Trier) and Adam Tzeng (Eagle, Idaho/Eagle) reached the semifinals of the 2021 Intercollegiate Tennis Association Northeast Regional Championships this weekend, though the duo were unable to defend their top seed.

After earning a first-round bye and surviving a marathon tiebreaker in their opening match in the second round, the duo had an easier time in the Round of 16 against Yazdi and Anderson of Babson, winning 8-1. Against a third-straight unseeded opponent, Foulkes and Opie of Amherst, Chen and Tzeng took an 8-3 victory into Sunday's semifinals. In the semis, against another Middlebury pairing, Laber and Harris, the 9-16 seeded Panthers edged the Judges, 8-5, before going to take the crown with a 6-2, 7-6 victory.

First-year Colin Fox (Winnetka, Ill./New Trier) advanced to the second day of action in both singles and doubles. In singles action, Middlebury player Robbie Ward, who had upset the tournament's top seed, took a 6-4, 6-3 decision in the Round of 16. In doubles action, Fox and senior Colt Tegtmeier (Madison, Wisc./Madison Memorial) defeated Sharda and Glickman of Tufts, 8-5, in the Round of 16, but fell to Amherst's Ruparel and Cheupri by the same score in the quarters.   

DAY ONE RECAP

Fox survived both singles and doubles draws. As a 9-16 seed, Fox defeated Waseem Sablon of Springfield, 6-1, 6-2, in the opening round, then edged Ian Tracy of Wheaton, 7-6, 6-1, in the second round. Fox won the tiebreaker, 7-2. He will meet Robby Ward of Middlebury in the round of 16 after Ward upset the top seed in three sets. 

Fox also paired with Tegtmeier to reach the round of 16 in the doubles draw. As the eighth seed, the duo earned a first-round bye. They then outlasted the pairing of Portnoy and Anker of Wesleyan, 8-7, winning an 8-6 tiebreaker. They will face a 9-16 seed from Tufts in the next round.

The Judges also had the top seed in the doubles tournament in seniors Chen and Tzeng. The NCAA doubles runners-up, Chen and Tzeng received a first-round bye as well before getting tested in the second round. In a marathon tiebreaker, the pair defeated Vilys and Mair of Middlebury, 8-7, winning the tiebreaker by a 14-12 score. They will meet a pairing from Babson in the Round of 16.