CLAREMONT, CA (March 23, 2023) -- The No. 5 Tufts University men's tennis team stayed unbeaten on the season Thursday afternoon, topping a pair of ranked foes with a 5-2 win over No. 25 University of Redlands before besting No. 18 Pomona-Pitzer 8-1 in the nightcap. The Jumbos are now 7-0 on the season, with five of the seven victories over Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Top 25 squads.
Match 1: Tufts 5, Redlands 2
In the first match of the day, the Jumbos were able to use their roster depth to knock off the Bulldogs (4-4), showing their strength at the bottom of the lineup. The match was played to decision, and Tufts would take a 2-1 lead into singles thanks to wins at No. 2 and No. 3.
Josh Belandres and
Rishabh Sharda bested Stefan Hester and Jack Mattox 8-4 at the No. 2 position, as the pair moved to 6-0 together on the season. At No. 3,
Alex Ganchev and
Jack Moldenhauer had no problems with an emphatic 8-1 win over Luca Davidorf and Omar Khayat. Ganchev and Moldenhauer are now 5-2 in the spring campaign together.
The Bulldogs got a win at No. 1 doubles, but the Jumbos were able to get a straight set victory at No. 3 singles by
Aarush Ganji thanks to scores of 6-1, 6-4 to add to the team total.
Andrej Djokic was a straight set victor at No. 5 singles over Donovan Lilov 6-4, 6-2, and
Oliver Obeid earned his first win of the season with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Khayat at No. 6. That was plenty of wins for the Jumbos to clinch the match, but
Corey Marley was rallying at No. 2 singles up in the second set while
Matthew Cashin's match was called with him leading in the second set as well.
Redland's lone win in singles came at the top spot, as Nils Plutat knocked off Sharda 6-2, 6-2.
Match 2: Tufts 8, Pomona-Pitzer 1
The Jumbos were fresh for the evening match thanks to the depth shown against Redlands, which allowed some players to get some more rest time. That was key for the Jumbos, and it showed as they rolled past the No. 18 Sagehens thanks to a sweep in singles.
Tufts got wins from
Vuk Vuksanovic and
Derin Acaroglu at the No. 1 position, as the duo chalked up their fourth win of the spring with an 8-6 decision over Mukund Madabhushi and Hayden Snyder.
Sharda and Belandres had a thriller at No. 2 doubles, but outlasted Matthew Feng and Eshaan Lumba 8-6 for the second doubles point. The Sagehens would earn one win in doubles, as Ethan Lee and Neil Chulani knocked off Ganchev and Moldenhauer 8-2.
Singles action would be all Jumbos though, as Sharda knocked off Snyder 7-5, 6-1 at the No. 1 position. Vuksanovic posted a straight set win at No. 2 with scores of 6-2, 7-6 (5), and Ganchev won by retirement at No. 3 up a set and on serve in the second.
Acaroglu stayed undefeated in singles play this spring at No. 4, as he dropped the first set 7-5 but came back to earn a 5-7, 6-3, 1-0 (10) win thanks to a victory in the super-tiebreaker.
Javier Gonzalez moved to 4-1 in singles this spring with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Feng, and Belandres won his fifth match out of six outings at No. 6 with a 7-5, 3-6, 1-0 (9) victory.
The Jumbos finished the day having won 28 of 40 singles matches this spring so far in six matches, while also posting a 76.2 win percentage in doubles (16-5).
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Tufts will have a quick turnaround for another big match, taking on No. 3 Claremont-Mudd-Scripts Friday at 5 p.m. local time in Claremont, CA.
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