Men's tennis takes two titles at Middlebury Invitational

Adam and Jeff slap hands during last year's NCAA championship match (Courtesy Jacob Dye, ITA)
Adam and Jeff slap hands during last year's NCAA championship match (Courtesy Jacob Dye, ITA)
Posted: Sep 19, 2021

MIDDLEBURY, Vt. – Coming off their historic 2021 campaign, the Brandeis University men's tennis team opened its 2021-22 season at the Middlebury Invitational this weekend. The Judges took home a pair of titles and reached two other semifinals.

In doubles action, seniors Jeffrey Chen (Northfield, Ill./New Trier) and Adam Tzeng (Eagle, Idaho/Eagle) picked up where they left off last season. The NCAA Tournament runners-up lived up to their top seed by capturing the 'A' singles title with little problem. Their toughest match came in the opening round against a tandem from Skidmore, an 8-6 win. They cruised in the second round, 8-0, against foes from RPI to advance to the semifinals. In the semis, they defeated the fourth seed from Colby, 8-5, then won the championship against the third seed from host Middlebury to take home the hardware.

In singles play, the Judges' title came in the 'B' draw, where first-year player Colin Fox (Winnetka, Ill./New Trier) also defended his top seed, winning three-straight three-set matches to reach the finals. Fox defeated Rishabh Sharda of Tufts, 6-4, 5-7, 11-9. In the quarterfinals, he came from behind to take down Skidmore's Tristan Thiebaut, 1-6, 6-2, 10-6. Against the fourth seed from Middlebury, Zihau Yuan, Fox again rallied, 5-7, 6-4, 10-7. In the finals, Fox finally won a straight-set victory, 6-3, 6-2, over Jake Cohen of Colby.

The Judges' other semifinalists were both singles players. Chen, seeded fourth in the 'A' singles draw, defeated Paris Pentousis of Tufts, 6-4, 6-4, in the opening round and Max Schuerman of Colby, 6-4, 6-3, in the quarters. In the semifinals, he fell to the unseeded eventual champion, Aiden Drover-Mattinen of RPI, 6-1, 6-3. Rookie Aryan Nijhawan (Shrewsbury, Mass. / Westborough) was seeded second in the 'D' singles bracket. He rolled past Colby's Julian Hernandez, 6-0, 6-0, in the opening round. In the quarterfinals, he defeated Dylan Glickman of Tufts, 6-2, 2-6, 10-7. In the semifinals against the third seed, Igor Visnevieskij from RPI, Nijhawan dropped another three-setter, 4-6, 6-3, 10-7. 

Brandeis returns to action next weekend when they head to Bowdoin College for the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Northeast Regional Championships.