It was a very successful weekend for the Hopkins men’s tennis team, as several players competed admirably at the ITA Southeast Tournament in Fredericksburg, Va. Freshman duo Michael Buxbaum and Emerson Walsh won the doubles championship to take home the team’s third regional doubles title in program history, while junior Ben Hwang rolled through opponents into the singles championship before falling to Abhishek Alla of Carnegie Mellon in the final. Freshman Jeffrey McKenzie added another accomplishment to the list by winning the Blue 1 singles draw.
When asked about the weekend, junior Erik Lim responded positively. “Our team bonded this weekend. With a new year comes new team chemistry,” Lim said. “As an upperclassman, it was great to show the freshman the ropes and some Hopkins tennis traditions.”
Buxbaum and Walsh entered the doubles bracket as the sixth seed and earned a first round bye before taking down three highly ranked teams. They opened up their winning streak with a decisive 8-1 victory over the Ursinus duo of Alex Elbogen and Evan Lord. Following the one-sided victory, the freshmen pair defeated Thomas Johnson and Brian Krouskos of Washington and Lee 8-2 to advance to the quarterfinals.
They continued to pummel opponents, as they crushed the pair from Carnegie Mellon 8-4 to reach the semifinal match against the number one seed. The young Blue Jays played an unbelievable match in the semis, closing out a very tight match against Michael Holt and Taylor Shamshiri of Washington & Lee. The championship match featured an all-Hopkins affair, as Buxbaum and Walsh faced off against sophomore Nicholas Garcia and junior Noah Joachim. Both Hopkins duos played well in the championship as all of the games were consistently close, but it was the freshman team that was victorious in the end, winning 6-4, 6-3 to claim the doubles championship for the Blue Jays.
“The duo looked very strong this weekend,” Lim said. “With the championship win, they received All-American honors, a very impressive accomplishment for a young talented pair of freshmen.”
Buxbaum and Walsh became the second consecutive Hopkins duo to capture the doubles championship after junior Tanner Brown and Lim claimed the trophy last year.
Garcia and Joachim, who entered the doubles bracket seeded ninth overall, took home the honor of second place.
Defending champions Brown and Lim were also in the doubles bracket, listed as the second seed overall. The pair coasted easily into the Round of 16 after a first round bye and an 8-3 victory over a Juniata doubles team. However, they were forced to withdraw from the bracket, as Brown was injured during the quarterfinal match and forced to stop playing.
While the doubles matches were filled with excitement, the singles bracket was just as entertaining as Hopkins had eight players slated in the Championship singles draw. The highlight of the singles bracket for the Jays was the swift and steady play of Hwang, who made his way to a championship appearance.
Hwang started with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Stratton Gilmore from Mary Washington. He then went on to defeat Eric Spangler of Salisbury 6-1, 6-2 and ninth-seeded Kiril Kirkov of Carnegie Mellon to earn a spot in the quarterfinals. Hwang’s play in the quarterfinals was beautiful to watch, as he only dropped two games in the entire match against third seeded Carey to move on to the semifinals. Despite upsetting the second seed overall in the semis, Hwang fell just short of the singles championship match, where he lost in straight sets 6-2, 6-1.
Brown was the top seed entering the singles tournament bracket. He proved his dominance by rolling through his first two opponents but his injury sustained during the doubles match forced him to an early exist in the singles tournament.
Buxbaum also entered the singles bracket, looking to build off of his confidence from the doubles championship. However, he was unable to find the magic, as he fell in the round of 16, losing in a hard fought, three set battle. The final Hopkins victories of the tournament came in the Blue 1 Singles Draw. Young talent was displayed throughout as McKenzie breezed through all of the competition, winning four matches straight while only dropping one set throughout the entire tournament. He cruised through the competition before coming from behind in the championship match to defeat John Larkin of Swarthmore in three sets, 2-6, 6-4, 10-1. This marked the second title won by the Blue Jays in the tournament and capped off a very successful three-day tournament.
When asked about goals for the upcoming spring season, Lim seemed optimistic about the team’s future. “We all have been improving during our fall training,” Lim said. “Personally, I want to keep improving my individual game and help contribute to the team’s success in achieving a national championship. We expect nothing less than a national championship.”
Hopkins will look to carry this confidence into the rest of their fall training. They have two weeks to prepare before facing off against Amherst College at home on Oct. 12.
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