The Brandeis men’s tennis team headed north to Middlebury, V.T. this past weekend to compete in the annual Middlebury Invitational, winning three of six brackets. Brandeis got players to the finals in five of the six brackets of the tournament, shocking the competition. Ultimately it was in the doubles category that the Judges really shined, as three out of the four pairs found their way to compete in the finals, bringing home first place in both doubles brackets.
The senior-freshman duo of Jackson Kogan ’19 and Adam Tzeng ’22 were champions of the A doubles flight. First, they defeated Colby College with a score of 8-4 before moving on to upset Middlebury’s top doubles team in the quarterfinals with a stunning tiebreaker that ended with a score of 9-8. Next, the Judges flew by Tufts in the semifinals, winning 8-5, cruising to meet Bates in the finals. Kogan and Tzeng took the tournament win in the finals after the Bates team withdrew mid-match at 4-0 due to injury.
In the B doubles flight, the Judges took on their own teammates in the finals, as both the one and three seeds met to challenge each other in a Brandeis versus Brandeis final. First, Anupreeth Coramutla ’21 and rookie Colt Tegtmeier ’22 reigned as the top seed, as they beat Colby in a close match that ended with a score of 9-8. They then moved on to compete against the host team in the quarterfinals, defeating the pairing from Middlebury in another competitive match that resulted in a score of 9-7. In the semifinals, the duo reached another tiebreaker against a tough team from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), ultimately winning 9-8 to propel them to the championship match.
On the other side of the bracket, the sophomore power team of Rajan Vohra ’21 and Nikhil Das ’21 comfortably conquered their opponents en route to the finals. They first took on RPI, winning 8-4, and then handily beat a duo from Bates 8-1, using their pace from the baseline. In the semifinals, the Judges outplayed Tufts in an 8-5 win, leading them to play against competitors wearing the same uniform in the finals.
Vohra and Das finished on top, polishing off the bracket as champions and winning 8-5 against Tegtmeier and Coramutla.
After seeing Brandeis players in three of the four singles flights, it was the experienced Tyler Ng ’19 who shined playing singles, bringing home a win in the D singles flight with a clean sweep as a number three seed. In his first match against an opponent from Skidmore, Ng dominated to win his sets 6-0 and 6-1. In the second round, Ng cruised to victory against a competitor from Middlebury 6-2 in both sets. Ng moved on to beat Tufts, as he scored 6-3 in both sets, pushing him onto the finals against another Skidmore athlete, winning 6-4 in both sets and claiming his first place title in a competitive match.
Lastly, in both the B and singles flights, the Judges reached the finals but ultimately fell to their fierce competitors. Coramutla fell to Middlebury in the grueling final match of the B flight, dropping a 6-4 and 6-2 decision after playing all day Saturday and Sunday.
In the C bracket, Kogan was defeated in a close two tie-breaker semifinal against an opponent from Tufts, losing 7-6 (7-4) and 7-6 (7-4) in the two sets. The same Tufts singles player went on to defeat Brandeis teammate Vohra in the final. Vohra, gassed from playing three matches beforehand, dropped the match to Tufts 6-1, 6-1.
Overall, the Judges had one of the best showings at the Middlebury Invitational in Brandeis tennis history. The team won three of the six flights with no. one ranked Middlebury and no. 14 ranked Tufts competing in the draw. The team will look to carry the winning momentum into the rest of the short fall season.
The Judges head back to Middlebury in two weeks to compete in the ITA New England Regional, where Brandeis’ top players will compete to participate in the ITA National to take place later in the fall season.
