CMS Men's Tennis Sweeps George Fox, Babson to Advance to Stag-Hen Championship match

CLAREMONT, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's tennis team earned 7-0 wins over George Fox in the quarterfinals and Babson in the semifinals to advance to the championship match of the annual Stag-Hen Invitational on Friday at the Biszantz Family Tennis Center.

With the win CMS improves to 8-3 on the year and moves to play No. 6 Bowdoin tomorrow in the championship match, after the Polar Bears knocked off defending national champion Case Western in the semifinals. The Stags had to prevail through some battles to get the two wins, as three of the singles matches were extended against No. 27 Babson. 

In the first match of the day against No. 33 George Fox, Advik Mareedu, ranked No. 9 in the country in singles, won at the No. 1 position 7-6(4), 6-1 over No. 12 Eli Mizerski.  Anirudh Gupta, ranked No. 23, also earned a straight set 6-1, 6-3 decision at No. 3 over No. 40 Hunter Fujimori. 

Ian Freer had to come back from 5-2 down in the first set at No. 2, but dictated from that point on in a 7-5, 6-2 victory. Josh Kim got out to a commanding one set lead at No. 4, but then needed breaks of serve at 5-4 and 6-5 down in the second to force and then prevail in a second set tie-breaker. 6-1, 7-6. Tarm Rojanasoonthon got the clinch at No. 5 with a 6-4, 6-2 win, and Anirudh Reddy earned the Stags' first singles point with an efficient 6-1, 6-0 at No. 6. 

CMS got their second consecutive doubles sweep against a ranked opponent, with Freer and Matthew Robinson earning a 7-6(2) tiebreaker win at No. 1. Mareedu and Reddy remained undefeated at the No. 2 position with an easy 6-2 win, while Kim and Rojanasoonthon were first to finish at No. 3. 

Against Babson, CMS was one game away from their third straight doubles sweep, having earned 6-2 wins at No. 2 and No. 3 from Mareedu/Reddy and Kim/Rojanasoonthon. Freer and Robinson led 5-2 at No. 1 but couldn't convert and fopund themselves in their second tie-break of the day. They saved their first match point at 5-6, and then had one of their own at 7-6, but then succumbed on the next match point for a 9-7 decision.

In singles, Gupta completed a second straight set win at No. 5 without dropping a game. Mareedu followed with a 6-4, 6-1 win at the top position, setting up the 6-3, 6-1 clinch from Robinson at No. 3. The remaining three singles matches went the distance, with Reddy bouncing back after a second-set defeat for a 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 win at No. 5, and Ian Freer doing likewise at No. 2 for a 6-4, 4-6, (10-4). Warren Pham finished completed the shutout at No. 4, earning a 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 win.

CMS and Bowdoin last faced one another in 2019 - also a Stag-Hen Championship Match - where the No. 6 Stags earned a 7-2 win over the No. 3 Polar Bears and avenged the 2018 final when No. 4 Bowdoin upset the second-ranked Stags by a 7-2 score.

#7 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (7) vs. #33 George Fox (0)
March 15, 2024 at Claremont, CA. (Biszantz Family Tennis Center, Stag-Hen Quarterfinal Match)

Doubles
1. Ian Freer/Matthew Robinson (CMS) def. Vahag Pashayan/Eli Mizerski (GFU) 7-6(2)
2. Advik Mareedu/Anirudh Reddy (CMS) def. Zach Moore/Ikuho Ebisu (GFU) 6-2
3. Josh Kim/Tarm Rojanasoonthon (CMS) def. Hunter Fujimori/Lars Schmassmann (GFU) 6-1

Singles
1. Advik Mareedu (CMS) def. Eli Mizerski (GFU) 7-6, 6-1(4)
2. Ian Freer (CMS) def. Vahag Pashayan (GFU) 7-5, 6-1
3. Anirudh Gupta (CMS) def. Hunter Fujimori (GFU) 6-1, 6-3
4. Josh Kim (CMS) def. Lars Schmassmann (GFU) 6-1, 7-6(4)
5. Tarm Rojanasoonthon (CMS) def. Alle Banna (GFU) 6-4, 6-2
6. Anirudh Reddy (CMS) def. Jackson Whittaker (GFU) 6-1, 6-0

Order of completion
Doubles: 3, 2, 1
Singles: 6, 3, 5, 4, 2, 1

#7 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (7) vs. #27 Babson (0)
March 15, 2024 at Claremont, CA. (Biszantz Family Tennis Center, Stag-Hen Semifinal Match)

Doubles
1. Brady Anderson/Andrew Watson (BAB) def. Ian Freer/Matthew Robinson (CMS) 7-6(7)
2. Advik Mareedu/Anirudh Reddy (CMS) def. Ole Lepsoe/Caymus Choi (BAB) 6-2
3. Josh Kim/Tarm Rojanasoonthon (CMS) def. Logan Back/Wesley Zhang (BAB) 6-2

Singles
1. Advik Mareedu (CMS) def. Kerem Ozlale (BAB) 6-4, 6-1
2. Ian Freer (CMS) def. Brady Anderson (BAB) 6-4, 4-6, (10-4)
3. Matthew Robinson (CMS) def. Jose Gonzalez (BAB) 6-3, 6-1
4. Warren Pham (CMS) def. Caymus Choi (BAB) 6-3, 2-6, 7-5
5. Anirudh Gupta (CMS) def. Logan Back (BAB) 6-0, 6-0
6. Anirudh Reddy (CMS) def. Brandon Reznik (BAB) 6-3, 3-6, 6-4

Order of completion
Doubles: 3, 2, 1
Singles: 5, 1, 3, 6, 2, 4