Jeff Chen ’22 reached the quarterfinal of the A singles flight and won the B doubles flight along with Simon Kauppila ’23 as the men’s tennis team continued their fall season at this past weekend at the Wallach Invitational at Bates College in Lewiston, ME.
The Judges were one of eight teams featured at the Wallach Invitational, the third tournament for the Judges this fall season after having competed at the Middlebury Invitation and the ITA Regionals at Colby College in September.
Chen won his first singles match 7-6 (3), 6-2 before dropping in straight sets to Evan Fortier from Bowdoin 6-3, 6-0. Chen, who usually plays doubles with Adam Tzeng ’22, teamed up with Kauppila as the two won the B Doubles Flight. Kauppila reached the semifinal in the D singles flight after winning his opening match 6-3, 6-0 and his quarterfinal match 6-4, 6-3.
Colt Tegtmeier ’23 reached the quarterfinal in the C singles flight. Tegtmeier along with Rajan Vohra ’21 nearly faced Chen and Kauppila in the final of the B doubles flight but lost in the semifinal 8-7 (3).
Chen was placed into an unfamiliar role, as he was the top singles player for the Judges. Team captains David Aizenberg ’20 and Anupreeth Coramutla ’21 as well as Tzeng did not play in the tournament.
As a first year, Chen was quite reliable for the Judges. Playing mostly fourth and fifth singles, Chen went 17-4 overall and 13-1 in the spring. Chen was just as good in doubles, going 19-3 on the year. With Tzeng as his partner, the pair went 14-1 playing most second doubles. Chen also went 5-2 with Nikhil Das ’21.
There are high expectations for the Judges this season, despite losing former Head Coach Ben Lamanna, who won Division III Coach of the Year last season. The Judges are returning many of their key players from last season, in which the Judges finished second at the UAA Championships and were ranked in the top ten nationally.
The Judges will look to build on their progress when they play their final tournament for the fall season on Oct. 19-20 at the Wesleyan Invitational. The Judges will open their spring season against Washington University at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships in St. Peter, MI.
