CMS Men's Tennis Keeps Rolling, Defeats No. 5 Tufts 5-2

CLAREMONT, Calif. - The fifth-ranked Tufts men's tennis team controlled doubles, but seventh-ranked Claremont-Mudd-Scripps flipped the script in singles, taking five straight-setters as it earned a 5-2 win over the Jumbos on Wednesday evening at the Biszantz Family Tennis Center.

CMS improves to 11-3 on the season with its seventh win a row, which has included wins over the No. 6 (Bowdoin) and No. 5 (Tufts) in the nation in the last four days. Tufts, which edged CMS in the NCAA Division III Semifinals last year 5-4, slips to 3-3 on the year with the loss. 

The match was played with Division I rules, with doubles counting as only one point, and the Jumbos were able to take all three courts, earning 6-3 wins at No. 1 and No. 2 and a 6-1 win at No. 3. 

The momentum didn't carry over into singles, though, as CMS rolled to dominant first set wins at No. 1, No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6. Advik Mareedu stayed dominant in the second set, as he leveled the score in the match with a 6-2, 6-3 win at No. 1 singles. Mareedu improves to 15-4 in singles play this season.

The No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6 courts all followed a similar pattern, with the Stags dominating first sets, facing resistance in the second sets, but then finishing strong to close out each match in straight sets. Positions 4, 5, and 6 all finished within mere minutes of each other as CMS quickly went from tying the match at No. 1 singles, to a 4-1 clinch at No. 6. 

Anriudh Gupta, the reigning SCIAC Athlete of the Week, finished his match at No. 4 with a 6-2, 7-5 win to put CMS in front 2-1. Tarm Rojanasoonthon who had come back from a 3-0 deficit in the second set, then finished off Alex Ganchev at No. 5 t to put the Stags on the verge of an impressive victory.

Warren Pham provided the clinching fourth point less than a minute later, capturing a 6-1, 7-5 win at No. 6 despite relinquishing a 5-2 in the second set. Matthew Robinson added an additional win for the final point of the match with a hard fought 7-5, 6-4 win at No. 3, his sixth straight singles win.

CMS will be back in action on Friday for another top-10 battle against a NESCAC foe, hosting No. 3 Middlebury at 5 p.m.

#7 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (5) vs. #5 Tufts (2)
March 20, 2024 at Claremont, CA. (Biszantz Family Tennis Center)

Doubles
1. Vuk Vuksanovic/Alex Ganchev (TUFTS) def. Ian Freer/Matthew Robinson (CMS) 6-3
2. Derin Acaroglu/Lachie Macintosh (TUFTS) def. Advik Mareedu/Anirudh Reddy (CMS) 6-3
3. Corey Marley/Sacha Maes (TUFTS) def. Tarm Rojanasoonthon/Josh Kim (CMS) 6-1

Singles
1. Advik Mareedu (CMS) def. Vuk Vuksanovic (TUFTS) 6-2, 6-3
2. Javier Gonzalez (TUFTS) def. Ian Freer (CMS) 7-6(1), 6-2
3. Matthew Robinson (CMS) def. Lachie Macintosh (TUFTS) 7-5, 6-4
4. Anirudh Gupta (CMS) def. Derin Acaroglu (TUFTS) 6-2, 7-5
5. Tarm Rojanasoonthon (CMS) def. Alex Ganchev (TUFTS) 6-2, 6-4
6. Warren Pham (CMS) def. Garv Bahl (TUFTS) 6-1, 7-5

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