VILLANOVA, Pa. – The Haverford College men's tennis team opened up its fall season under new head coach Brendan Kincaid and found early success at the Villanova Invitational over the weekend. Sophomore Pranav Krishnan and first year George Jiang captured the White Draw championship, while the pairing of Josh Moskovitz and Kevin Yan went 2-1 in Blue Draw competition.
Playing doubles together and then two singles matches for a best-of-three score, Jiang and Krishnan won their opening round match by a 3-0 sweep against Colgate before going on to three successive 2-1 victories against Rider, Chestnut Hill, and Delaware. That pairing got off to a great start each round with a perfect 4-0 record in doubles, including a hard-fought 7-5 victory against Chestnut Hill which helped them advance to the championship match.
Jiang continued his very strong collegiate debut for the Fords in singles as he won his first three singles matches. Each of those singles victories came in straight sets as he won tiebreaker sets during the first and third rounds of the draw. With the team score clinched in the opening round against Colgate before he took the court, Krishnan's singles victory ultimately was the deciding point in the championship match against Delaware. He won that final match of the weekend by a 7-5, 6-3 score.
In the top singles draw, co-captains Moskovitz and Yan both excelled for the Fords as that pairing went a combined 2-1 before a bye during the final round of competition. Moskovitz posted a 3-0 record in singles, starting his weekend with a 10-point tiebreak victory against Colgate before cruising to a pair of straight set victories against Loyola and La Salle. Yan wen 2-1 in his singles matches, dropping a hard-fought first set tiebreak during the opening round, but coming back with a tiebreak win during an eight-game pro set to close his weekend. The pairing of Moskovitz and Yan also recorded a tiebreak doubles victory to close their weekend together with a 3-0 sweep of La Salle during the third round.
Joining the champion pairing of Jiang/Krishnan in the White Draw was Haverford co-captain Nick Sweeney and partner Arnav Patodia. That pairing's weekend was highlighted by a hard-fought 2-1 win against Saint Joseph's during the second round of play. In that match, the Fords' duo got off to a strong start with a tiebreak victory in doubles before Sweeney clinched the team score with back-to-back 6-4 set victories in singles.
Men's tennis will now have two weeks to prepare for the ITA Southeast Regional at Mary Washington. That tournament will get underway on Friday, September 28 and continue through Sunday, September 30. The Fords cap their fall season that following week by welcoming back their alumni for the annual match on Saturday, October 6 beginning at 1 p.m. on the Bramall Tennis Courts.