Andrienko, Doehler Star Once Again; Bulldogs Play Five Three-Set Matches in 5-2 Loss to No. 54 Cornell

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale men's tennis team played its second home match of the weekend on Sunday, battling nationally ranked Cornell in what would go down as the closest match of the season. In a match that featured a staggering number of three-set singles matches (five), the Elis demonstrated just how much they have progressed since losing top player Tyler Lu to injury a few months ago; although such a setback may have disheartened another squad, the Bulldogs have rallied together and shown the ability to compete with the nation's most elite opponents. So despite Sunday's final score line – a 5-2 Cornell victory – Yale will look to upcoming matches with optimism, especially considering the quality play of sophomores Fedor Andrienko and Stefan Doehler this past weekend.

Saturday's match began with a tightly contested round of doubles. At No. 1 doubles, Cornell's Colin Sinclair and David Volfson edged Andrienko and Doehler by just one service break in a 6-4 win; the remaining two matches would also be decided by just a handful of points. Despite playing well, it was ultimately No. 3 duo Jason Brown and Alex Hagermoser who slipped first, falling 7-5 in a back-and-forth affair with Cornell's Lozic and Rosa. Once the Big Red clinched the doubles point, Yale's Photos Photiades and Martin Svenning halted their match with the score tied at 5-5.

Such high-intensity doubles play undoubtedly carried over into singles, where nothing could separate the two sides initially. The only straight-set singles match of the day came at the No. 1 spot between Yale's Ziqi Wang and Cornell's Volfson; and even that match, won 7-5, 7-5 by Volfson, could have easily ended up going the Bulldogs' way. And out of the five remaining matches – which all reached a third set – only two featured a relatively lopsided final set. While Hagermoser dropped his third set 6-1 to Cornell's Stefan Vinti at No. 3 singles, Stefan Doehler managed to submit a near-flawless third set to top Cornell's No. 5 player Lozic in a 2-6, 6-3, 6-1 comeback victory. This result improved the sophomore's record to a red-hot 9-1 in his last 10 singles matches.

With Cornell holding a 3-1 lead, the final three singles matches were truly nerve-wracking for the home crowd. Fedor Andrienko led the way for the Elis with a tremendous 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 victory over Cornell's Colin Sinclair at No. 2 singles; like his doubles partner Doehler, Andrienko has played excellent tennis this year with a 12-5 singles record in 2016. Unfortunately for Andrienko and the Bulldogs, however, the 3-1 match deficit proved too much to overcome. The remaining two matches narrowly broke the Big Red's way, with Yale senior Martin Svenning losing his third set 6-3 and Dennis Wang falling to Cornell's Dylan Brown in a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 marathon match. 

Though the Elis will be disappointed to head into the third weekend of their Ivy League season still in search of a victory, they showed flashes of great potential this past weekend and can only hope to improve going forward. The squad's next match, the annual rivalry clash with Harvard, will take place away in Cambridge this Friday.

FULL MATCH RESULTS -- Cornell 5, Yale 2