CMS Men's Tennis Advances to NCAA Semifinals with 5-3 Win over Tufts
ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Matthew Robinson earned a tiebreaker win in doubles with Ian Freer, and had a comeback three-set win for the clinch in singles, as the No. 1 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's tennis team advanced through to the NCAA Division III Semifinals with a 5-3 quarterfinal win over No. 6 Tufts on Tuesday.
With the win, CMS improves to 28-3 on the season and advances to meet Bowdoin in the semifinal round tomorrow at 12 noon local time (10 a.m. Pacific). The Stags also earned a win over a Tufts team that knocked them out of the last two NCAA Tournament in equally hard-fought matches, a 5-4 defeat in the semifinals last year and a 5-3 loss in the quarterfinals in 2022. This dual featured the same seven of nine singles and doubles match-ups that faced off in a March 20 contest at CMS, in which the Stags prevailed 5-2 using the D1 scoring format.
Robinson won his match 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 to provide the clinch, winning the last six games in a row for the fifth and decisive point. Lachie Macintosh started the third set with a hold for Tufts, and was up 15-40 in the second poised for a break, when Robinson won the next three points, hitting a forehand slice passing shot winner at deuce to level it 1-1. He then broke for a 2-1 lead and failed to yield another game to clinch CMS the 5-3 win.
The match was competitive right from the start, as all three doubles matches went into simultaneous tiebreakers. Tufts was able to win the first point by taking the tiebreaker 7-4 at No. 2, but Warren Pham and Anirudh Reddy responded with a big close for an 8-6 win at No. 3 to level the match at 1-1. Robinson and Freer then took four of the final points after being tied at the changeover 3-3 to win 7-4 and give CMS the 2-1 lead heading into singles.
Tufts was able to get some of the momentum back in singles, taking first sets at No. 1, No. 3 and No. 4. The Jumbos picked up the first singles win at No. 1 as Vuk Vuksanovich was able to level the match at 2-2, but CMS earned the next two points at No. 5 and No. 6.
Tarm Rojanasoonthon took a 6-2, 6-3 win at No. 4, and Pham followed shortly after with a 6-4, 6-4 win at No. 6, earning a big deuce point to break to go up 5-4 in the second and then winning the final four points on his serve after going down 0-15 to take the win and join Robinson in sweeping singles and doubles.
The Jumbos were able to get one of the points back at No. 2, where Javier Gonzalez won in three sets to close the deficit to 4-3. Tufts was on the verge of tying it, but Anirudh Gupta prevailed in a second-set tiebreaker 8-6 to force a third set, just as Robinson was going up 4-1 in the third set on an adjacent court. With the momentum on the side of the Stags, Robinson held serve for a 5-1 lead and then broke to seal the match and a 5-3 CMS win.
The Stags met Bowdoin earlier this year in the finals of the Stag-Hen Invitational, and came away with a 4-3 win, as Gupta provided the tiebreaking point with a 6-7, 7-5, 7-5 win.
#1 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (5) vs. #6 Tufts (3)
May 21, 2024 at St. Louis, MO. (Dwight Davis Tennis Center)
Doubles
1. Ian Freer/Matthew Robinson (CMS) def. Aashish Dhanani/Eric Liao (TU) 6-2
2. Ethan Flores/Jared Perry (TU) def. Advik Mareedu/Anirudh Reddy (CMS) 7-5
3. Warren Pham/Tarm Rojanasoonthon (CMS) def. Rob Chang/Dalton Locke (TU) 6-3
Singles
1. Vuk Vuksanovic (TUFTS) def. Advik Mareedu (CMS) 6-3, 6-0
2. Javier Gonzalez (TUFTS) def. Ian Freer (CMS) 1-6, 6-1, 6-1
3. Matthew Robinson (CMS) def. Lachie Macintosh (TUFTS) 4-6, 6-1, 6-1
4. Anirudh Gupta (CMS) vs. Derin Acaroglu (TUFTS) 3-6, 7-6(6), 0-2 DNF
5. Tarm Rojanasoonthon (CMS) def. Alex Ganchev (TUFTS) 6-2, 6-3
6. Warren Pham (CMS) def. Garv Bahl (TUFTS) 6-4, 6-4
Order of completion
Doubles: 2, 3, 1
Singles: 1, 5, 6, 2, 3
