Hagermoser Forces Third Set; Svenning Notches Singles and Doubles Wins as Yale Falls to Dartmouth 4-1

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale men's tennis team played its penultimate match of the season on Sunday, hosting nationally ranked Dartmouth in a competitive conference clash. Heading into Sunday's match, the Bulldogs anticipated a significant challenge – the Big Green (ranked No. 36 nationally) had won four consecutive matches and looked to be a legitimate Ivy League title contender. Considering the Elis were lacking the service of top player Tyler Lu, their performance on Sunday in a 4-1 loss was more than respectable; not only did senior Martin Svenning win both of his matches, but two other players also held an advantage in singles when the match was stopped. 

Sunday's match began with an extremely tight round of doubles. After Dartmouth's Max Fliegner and Dovydas Sakinis claimed a 6-1 victory at No. 3 doubles, the Bulldogs rallied in the remaining two positions. Photos Photiades and Martin Svenning led the way for Yale, coming through with a clutch service game to top Dartmouth's No. 2 team Roko Glasnovic and Max Schmidt, 7-5. And while Yale's Fedor Andrienko and Stefan Doehler also fought to earn a victory at No. 1 doubles, the Big Green's Tannebaum and Wall ultimately escaped to take the match 7-5.

After such a narrowly decided doubles round, Dartmouth raised its efforts in singles. At the No. 6 position, Yale's Photiades fell first in a 6-1, 6-3 loss to Dartmouth's Eddie Grabill; Dartmouth then secured a third point when No. 1 player Dovydas Sakinis edged Yale's Ziqi Wang, 6-3, 7-5. Considering Sakinis holds a No. 81 national singles ranking and has proven himself to be one of the Ivy League's best players, the Bulldog played quite well to push him throughout the match. 

Staring down a 3-0 deficit, Svenning managed to put the Elis on the scoreboard with an impressive 6-4, 6-4 win over George Wall at No. 4 singles; this result improved the senior's record to 8-3 in his last 11 singles matches. Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, Svenning would be the only player to record a victory on Sunday; Andrienko's 7-5, 6-4 loss to Dartmouth's Ciro Riccardi in the No. 2 spot immediately concluded the match. It should be noted, however, that both Stefan Doehler and Alex Hagermoser held a slight lead in the two remaining matches.

Although Yale will be disappointed to head into the final weekend of its Ivy League season still in search of a victory, they showed flashes of great potential this past weekend and have one last chance for redemption against Brown. The squad's final match of the season will be away in Providence next Saturday.

1 – No. 70 Wall/Tannenbaum (Dartmouth) def. Andrienko/Doehler (Yale), 7-5
2 – Svenning/Photiades (Yale) def. Glasnovic/Schmidt (Dartmouth), 7-5
3 – Fliegner/Sakinis (Dartmouth) def. Brown/Hagermoser (Yale), 6-1

Singles

1 – No. 81 Sakinis (Dartmouth) def. Wang (Dartmouth), 6-3, 7-5
2 – Riccardi (Dartmouth) def. Andrienko (Yale), 7-5, 6-4
3 – Hagermoser (Yale) vs. Fliegner (Dartmouth), 7-5, 4-6, 2-1, DNF
4 – Svenning (Yale) def. Wall (Dartmouth), 6-4, 6-4
5 – Doehler (Yale) vs. Schmidt (Dartmouth), 5-7, 5-2, DNF
6 – Grabill (Dartmouth) def. Photiades (Yale), 6-1, 6-3