CMS Men's Tennis Drops Narrow 5-4 Decision to Chicago at ITA Indoor Nationals

MAYFIELD, Ohio - Christopher Li and Matthew Robinson won at No. 3 doubles and added singles wins at No. 5 and No.6, respectively, but it wasn't quite enough as the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's tennis team dropped a narrow 5-4 decision to Chicago in the quarterfinals of the ITA Indoor Nationals on Friday morning. After trailing 2-1 after the doubles, the Stags had commanding leads in four of six singles matches, but could only convert three into wins.

The loss drops CMS to 4-2 on the young season, with the only prior loss coming to USC, a top-10 Division I program back in January. Unlike the match against the Trojans, the loss to Chicago was marked by ample missed opportunites. The Stags surrendered leads in both doubles losses, and then won four first sets by lopsided scores in the singles. At the No. 3 position, Ethan Carroll served for the second set at 5-4 and then again at 6-5. In each of these situations, CMS failed to convert and take control of the dual match.

Li and Robinson took an 8-5 win at No. 3 doubles, but the Maroons led 2-1 after winning 8-6 at both No. 1 and No. 2. Li went on to have a dominant win at No. 5 singles, earning a 6-1, 6-2 victory to contribute to his second point of the day. Robinson, meanwhile, prevailed in a three-setter, winning the opening set 6-1, then bouncing back after dropping the second set to Shramay Dhawan 6-3 to control the third set 6-2. 

Robert Liu earned the fourth point for CMS by retirement with the score tied 2-2 in the third set. Liu took the first set 6-2 from Arjun Asokumar, but dropped the second 6-3. Derek Hsieh won a big second-set tiebreaker at No. 3 for Chicago for a 6-3, 7-6(4) win, while Alex Guzhva bounced back from a 6-1 defeat to Ian Freer in the first set to win in three.

CMS will return to action tomorrow morning at 6 a.m. against Emory, which also suffered a 5-4 defeat on Friday (to WashU), which will be be a rematch of the 2020 ITA National Team Indoors championship match, which Emory won 5-3.  

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (4) vs. University of Chicago (5)
February 25, 2022 at Mayfield, OH. (Mayfield Village Racquet Club) ITA Division III National Team Indoor Championships

Doubles
1. Derek Hsieh/Christian Alshon (U. Chicago) def. Jack Katzman/Robert Liu (CMS) 8-6
2. Arjun Asokumar/Andrei Leonov (U. Chicago) def. Ian Freer/Ethan Carroll (CMS) 8-6
3. Christopher Li/Matthew Robinson (CMS) def. Julius Kim / Pat Otero (U. Chicago) 8-5

Singles
1. Robert Liu (CMS) def. Arjun Asokumar (U. Chicago) 6-2, 3-6, 2-2 Ret.
2. Christian Alshon (U. Chicago) def. Jack Katzman (CMS) 6-1, 6-3
3. Derek Hsieh (U. Chicago) def. Ethan Carroll (CMS) 6-3, 7-6(4)
4. Alex Guzhva (U. Chicago) def. Ian Freer (CMS) 1-6, 6-3, 6-2
5. Christopher Li (CMS) def. Andrei Leonov (U. Chicago) 6-1, 6-2
6. Matthew Robinson (CMS) def. Shramay Dhawan (U. Chicago) 6-1, 3-6, 6-2

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