It was clear which school would win the finals of both the men’s singles and doubles draws at the Connecticut State Championships on Sunday — all the finalists were from Yale.
This weekend’s state tournament saw an impressive performance by the home team at Yale’s Cullman-Heyman Tennis Center. Daniel Hoffman ’13 defeated teammate Erik Blumenkranz ’12 6–0, 6–4 to win the title in the singles final, and the doubles team of Hoffman and Blumenkranz defeated Matt Schimmel ’10 and Ryan Berman ’11 8–6 to win the doubles final. Blumenkranz also received the sportsmanship award, which was determined by the referees of the tournament.
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Coach Alex Dorato said he was very happy with the weekend’s results and mentioned in particular the performances of Blumenkranz and Hoffman.
“Hoffman had a standout tournament winning both the singles title and the doubles title,” Dorato said.
Dorato added that Blumenkranz had a great weekend, with the three pieces of hardware he took home in total.
In the semifinals of the singles draw, Hoffman cruised to a 6–3, 6–2 win over Sacred Heart’s Kirill Kasayanov, and Blumenkranz beat Quinnipiac’s Andrew Weeden 7–6, 6–2 to create an all-Yale final.
Hoffman and Blumenkranz’s singles success was mirrored in the doubles draw as Yale players once again dominated the finals. After a solid win in the semifinals, the doubles team of Schimmel and Berman fell to Blumenkranz and Hoffman 8–6 in a match that came down to a close tiebreaker.
Hoffman said he was pleased with his own performance as well as the team’s overall.
“It was great that all of our players did so well,” he said. “[It] shows the depth and ability of our team.”
Hoffman also mentioned that the tournament shows the progress the team has made this season and that they are optimistic about the spring.
Blumenkranz said he had fun playing against his teammates and was happy with the team’s results. He also said that winning the sportsmanship award was the highlight of his season.
This upcoming weekend Yale will host the ITA National Indoor Tournament. Several Yale players not present at the state championships will compete. The four Elis who will be competing next week, Marc Powers ’13 and John Huang ’13 in the singles draw and Calvin Bennett ’11 and Connor Dawson ’10 in the doubles draw, skipped competition to prepare for the national tournament.
“We’re looking forward to seeing how our team does,” Blumenkranz said. “It should be a fun tournament.”