FLUSHING MEADOWS, N.Y. – A surge in singles play saw No. 18 Stanford end its ITA Kick-Off Weekend in a gritty 4-3 loss to No. 16 Columbia on Monday afternoon at the Billie Jean King Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, N.Y.
Stanford (3-1) took an early lead by capturing the doubles point thanks to victories at the Nos. 2 and 3 spots. David Wilczynski and Yale Goldberg set the pace with a 7-2 win, before Tom Fawcett and Sameer Kumar clinched the point in the No. 2 spot with a 7-4 triumph.
Columbia came back to knot it in singles with a win in the No. 4 spot to make it 1-1. Tom Fawcett pulled the Cardinal ahead with a 6-2, 6-2 win in the No. 1 spot, followed with Sameer Kumar pushing the score to 3-1 in the No. 6 spot by besting Timothy Wang 6-4, 6-4.
The Lions came storming back in the No. 5 spot with a straight-set win, while Eric Rubin in the No. 3 spot tied it 3-3, topping Maciek Romanowicz 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. A marathon match in the No. 2 spot would prove the decider with David Wilczynski taking the first set 6-3 before he battled Victor Pham to a tiebreak in the next two sets before falling 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-3).
Stanford returns to the court Saturday, Jan. 30, hosting San Diego State at 1 p.m. at the Broadway Tennis Center in Burlingame, Calif.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
No. 16 Columbia 4, No. 18 Stanford 3
DOUBLES
1) No. 50 Hadavi/Pham (COL) vs. Paige/Romanowicz (STAN) 5-4 (abandonded)
2) Fawcett/Kumar(STAN) d. No. 26 Rolski/Vermeeri (COL) 7-4
3) Goldberg/Wilczynski (STAN) d. Alda/Rubin (COL) 7-2
Order of Finish: 3, 2
SINGLES
1) No. 9 Tom Fawcett (STAN) d. Shawn Hadavi (COL) 6-2, 6-2
2) Victor Pham (COL) d. No. 57 David Wilczynski (STAN) 3-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3)
3) Eric Rubin (COL) d. No. 89 Maciek Romanowicz (STAN) 4-6, 6-4, 6-2
4) Mike Vermeer (COL) d. Nolan Paige (STAN) 6-4, 6-0
5) Richard Pham (COL) d. No. 61 Michael Genender (STAN) 6-3, 6-4
6) Sameer Kumar (STAN) d. Timothy Wang (COL) 6-4, 6-4
Order of Finish: 4, 1, 6, 5, 3, 2
