The men's and women's tennis teams opened their Ivy League seasons this weekend. The men, ranked 43rd in the nation, hosted winning matches over Princeton, 6-1, and No. 61 University of Pennsylvania, 4-3, moving to 18-5 overall. The women struggled on the road, getting shut out 7-0 by Princeton and routed 6-1 by Penn to fall to 9-6 on the season.
The men's Ivy season opened ominously, as Brown dropped the doubles point. After the 17th-ranked duo of co-captain Adil Shamasdin '05 and Phillip Charm '06 won at first doubles, 8-5, Princeton retaliated with victories at second and third doubles to take a 1-0 lead.
But Brown smothered the competition in the singles, earning straight-set wins at all six spots to secure the 6-1 victory. Shamasdin, ranked 88th nationally, recovered from the late March jitters, which had left him winless on the team's road trip through California, and earned a 7-5, 6-3 win at first singles. Co-captain Nick Goldberg '05 smoked junior Darius Craton 6-0, 6-0 at second singles.
On Saturday, Penn proved to be a more challenging opponent, forcing the Bears to earn the 4-3 win. Bruno took the doubles point on the strength of 8-5 wins by Shamasdin and Charm at first doubles and Saurabh Kohli '08 and Eric Thomas '07 at second.
Shamasdin carried the momentum into singles with a 6-1, 7-6 (5) win at first. Thomas contributed a 6-1, 6-1 win at third and Charm won 6-2, 6-2 at fifth, securing the victory. Penn had to work for their singles wins, with Goldberg, Moss and Kohli all forcing three-set matches in defeat.
"The matches this weekend were rough, but successful. I wasn't very happy with the quality of play, but we were happy that we got the wins," Shamasdin said.
The squad has thrived thus far in close matches. The only 4-3 decision that it lost came against North Carolina State University on Feb. 6. The Bears' ability to sway close matches will likely be important as the Ivy season continues. Head Coach Jay Harris said that the weekend was successful "in terms of toughing out a couple of wins, but we didn't play great matches either day - our team was a bit fatigued going into the weekend after the long trip west."
The Bears will rest up and work on team skills in preparation for their trip to Ithaca, N.Y. for their Friday match against Cornell. The team wants to fulfill the "expectations that we have had for the last four years - that we are going to win the Ivy League and punish any team that gets in our way," Harris said.
The women had a less successful weekend - the two losses snapped their four-game winning streak that dated back to the team's spring break trip to California.
Princeton never allowed Brown into the match, earning the doubles point by handing 8-2 losses to the teams of captain Alex Arlak '05 and Daisy Ames '07 at first position and Michelle Pautler '07 and Ashley Pariser '08 at second.
Brown then succumbed to Princeton's singles play, losing all six matches. Amanda Saiontz '07 and Ames each won a set, as did Anita Ivancevic '08, but none could seal the deal. Pariser also won a set, but suffered her first loss since the Feb. 13 match against Syracuse University.
The match against Penn was equally rocky, although Brown did earn one victory. Penn jumped out early, capturing the doubles point with three wins. They then rolled into the singles competition, beating Brown in straight sets in all the matches except the third spot, where Ames beat Penn first-year Michelle Mitchell 6-2, 6-3.
"We all knew that despite Penn and Princeton being two of the best teams in the league, anything was possible," Arlak said, "but unfortunately, we didn't step it up against the tough competition."
These two games add to the team's doubles woes, as they have now dropped eight consecutive points. "Our singles (play) tends to be stronger than our doubles as of now, but our long-term goal is to not always rely on our singles to win matches," Arlak said.
The women will return to action this weekend with matches against Cornell on Friday and Columbia Saturday.
