Top-Ranked CMS Men's Tennis Defeats No. 7 WashU, No. 9 Trinity

ST. LOUIS, Mo. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's tennis team moved into the No. 1 spot in the latest ITA rankings released this week, and defended that top spot with a pair of top-10 wins, defeating No. 7 WashU and No. 9 Trinity by identical 5-2 scores at WashU on Friday.

With the wins, CMS moves to 15-3 overall on the season, including 11 in a row since returning from the ITA Indoor Championships, where it fell to Emory and Case Western. The Stags have not lost a Division III match outdoors this season, picking up wins over the current No. 3 (Bowdoin), No. 6 (Middlebury), No. 7 (WashU), No. 8 (Williams), No. 9 (Trinity) and No. 10 (Tufts) teams in the nation.

In the first match of the day, WashU took a 1-0 lead after doubles, with the swing point coming at No. 1 in a tiebreaker, despite the Stags' top pair Ian Freer and Matthew Robinson serving for the match at 5-4. Advik Mareedu and Anirudh Reddy won at No. 2 in a tight battle, earning a key break of serve at 5-all, and then completing a 7-5 win to level the doubles matches at one, before the Bears ended up with the lead going into singles.

Anirudh Gupta earned a dominant win at No. 4, winning 6-0, 6-0 to draw the Stags even at 1-all, and Tarm Rojanasoonthon needed only one break in the first before cruising to a 6-4, 6-0 win at No. 5, giving CMS a 2-1 lead. Ian Freer dictated impressively in a 6-4, 6-2 win at No. 2 to put CMS on the cusp of a clinch, before Mareedu got his 18th singles win of the season at No. 1 to secure the team win. 

Matthew Robinson added a win at No. 3, responding after failing to convert a set point in the first. His 6-7(7), 7-5, (10-4) made it five of six singles for CMS. WashU earned a three-set win at No. 6 from John Fakouri, who came back from a 6-2, 5-2 deficit and saved a match point.

In the second match of the day against Trinity, played at the host finals site for the upcoming NCAA Division III Team Championships in May, CMS took the doubles point with Freer and Robinson breaking serve to complete a 6-2 at No. 1. This reversed a 6-2 loss on February 23, against the very same team at the ITA National Team Indoors. Warren Pham and Rojanasoonthon completed the doubles point for CMS with a 6-3 win at No. 3, the Stags' first doubles point in five dual matches.

Mareedu picked up his second singles win of the day with a convincing 6-2, 6-2 win at No. 1 to put CMS ahead 2-0. Freer similarly won in straight sets at No. 2 to give CMS a 3-1 advantage, and Robinson finished off the clinch with a 6-2, 6-4 win at No. 3. Gupta needed three sets to record his second win of the day at No. 4, and is now 17-3 overalll on the season.

The Stags will complete their three-game trip to St. Louis tomorrow when they face Skidmore at 10 AM CDT at the Dwight Davis Tennis Center.

#1 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (5) vs. #7 Washington University in St. Louis (2)
March 29, 2024 at St. Louis, MO. (Tao Tennis Center)

Doubles
1. Colin Fox/Gaurav Singh (WASHU) def. Ian Freer/Matthew Robinson (CMS) 7-6(5)
2. Advik Mareedu/Anirudh Reddy (CMS) def. Scott Yamamoto/Stefan Hester (WASHU) 7-5
3. Jared Phillips/Pato Garcia Muriel (WASHU) def. Tarm Rojanasoonthon/Warren Pham (CMS) 6-2

Singles
1. Advik Mareedu (CMS) def. Jared Phillips (WASHU) 6-3, 6-4
2. Ian Freer (CMS) def. Colin Scruggs (WASHU) 6-4, 6-2
3. Matthew Robinson (CMS) def. Eric Kuo (WASHU) 6-7(7), 7-5, (10-4)
4. Anirudh Gupta (CMS) def. Sergiu Celebidachi (WASHU) 6-0, 6-0
5. Tarm Rojanasoonthon (CMS) def. Stefan Hester (WASHU) 6-4, 6-0
6. John Fakouri (WASHU) def. Warren Pham (CMS) 2-6, 7-5, 10-3

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

#1 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (5) vs. #9 Trinity University (2)
March 29, 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. Advik Mareedu (CMS) def. Jared Perry (TU) 6-2, 6-2
2. Ian Freer (CMS) def. Connor Whittington (TU) 6-1, 6-4
3. Matthew Robinson (CMS) def. Rob Chang (TU) 6-2, 6-4
4. Anirudh Gupta (CMS) def. Aashish Dhanani (TU) 6-2, 2-6, 6-3
5. Ethan Flores (TU) def. Tarm Rojanasoonthon (CMS) 6-2, 0-6, 6-3
6. Eric Liao (TU) def. Warren Pham (CMS) 6-2, 6-2

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