HOBOKEN, N.J. – The Haverford College men's tennis team picked up its first nationally-ranked win since the 2016 season as the Fords (1-1) doubled up on No. 31 Stevens by a 6-3 score on Saturday afternoon. Haverford swept through the doubles action before Rob Kresch ultimately clinched the match with a three-set win in singles.
Flipping the script from Friday, Haverford controlled the doubles lineup to take a commanding lead early. David Kong and Kevin Yan got the momentum rolling with an 8-5 win at the top of the lineup. A pair of tiebreak victories also went Haverford's way in the final two doubles matches as the Fords were up 3-0 heading into singles. Playing at No. 2 doubles, Pranav Krishnan and George Jiang evenly split the first 14 games of their doubles match before winning the tiebreak 8-6. Rob Kresch and Patrick Kley also faced a tiebreak at No. 3 doubles, but prevailed by a 9-7 score.
Pranav Krishnan put the Fords on the brink of victory with a straight set victory at No. 4 singles. Krishnan cruised to a 6-2 win during his opening set, but needed an extra game in the second set before prevailing by a 7-5 score.
Each of the five remaining singles matches all went to a decisive third set and Haverford won two of those showdowns to solidify its victory. Rob Kresch served as the clinching point at No. 5 singles. Haverford's senior needed a tiebreak during his decisive third set, but cruised in those final points by a 7-1 score. George Jiang came through with a pair of tiebreaks to close out his second and third set victories. Jiang forced a third-set with an 8-6 tiebreak win. Haverford's sophomore capped his comeback with a 7-2 tiebreak win in the third set after dropping his opener.
Stevens won three set matches at No. 1, No. 2, and No. 5 singles to salvage a split of singles play. Kevin Yan forced a decisive third set in the No. 1 singles match with a 6-3 win in the second before falling 6-2 in the decisive set. David Kong, playing No. 2 singles, fell in a pair of hard-fought sets that both went to extra games around his 6-4 victory in the middle. Arnav Patodia forced his third set with a victory in the second before falling at No. 6 singles.
Men's tennis will now be off from competition until the week of spring break where the Fords will play five matches in California. Up first on Haverford's west coast trip will be another nationally-ranked battle as the Fords take on No. 33 RPI. That match is slated for a 10 a.m. west coast start (1 p.m. EDT).