Brody Gilkison, Contributing Photographer

The men’s tennis team got off to a solid start this past weekend at the Chowderfest Invitational, headlined by strong performances from its newcomers. The women’s team played two closely contested matches with Rutgers and Boston University before steamrolling Brown to close out the Bulldog Invitational. 

The men’s team traveled to Harvard where they competed against the University of Illinois, Notre Dame, Boise State, Cornell and Harvard. 

On the first day of the invitational, the men’s team took on both the Fighting Illini and Irish. In doubles, Jason Shuler ’28 partnered up with Vignesh Gogineni ’26 to defeat Tyler Bowers and Zachary Viiala from Illinois 6–3. Walker Oberg ’25 and Eric Li ’25 also teamed up to take down Jayanth Devaiah and Luis Llorens from Notre Dame 7–6 (6). The Elis dropped the other two doubles matches, one each to Illinois and Notre Dame.

In singles, the trio of newcomers, Edward Liao ’28 (6–2, 6–2), Krish Gupta ’28 (6–2, 7–5) and Jason Shuler ’28 (6–1, 6–0), all found themselves victorious against their opponents from Notre Dame. Eric Li was the only other Bulldog to post a singles victory on Friday, defeating Jeremy Zhang of Illinois 6–3, 6–2. Gogineni, Dylan Tsoi ’27, Jim Ji ’27 and Oberg came up short in their singles matches.

“The first match I was super nervous as the college atmosphere felt so much different than the juniors,” Liao told the News about his first collegiate tennis match. “However, after that first match, I felt less nervous than I expected. I think the guys on the team really helped calm my nerves as they always reminded me to have fun on court, which helped me play better.”

On the second day, Yale faced Cornell and Boise State. The doubles pairing of Liao and Ji conquered Rodrigo Fernandes and Petar Teodorovic of Cornell, 7–6 (5). The duos of Tsoi and Gupta, Oberg and Li, and Gogineni and Shuler all came short against their opponents from Cornell and Boise State.

Again, in singles, the Yale first-years were successful as Liao defeated John Chin from Boise State 6–1, 3–6, 10–4, and Gupta beat Idriss Haddouch from Boise State 6–4, 7–6 (6). Gogineni, the ITA-51st-ranked singles player, defeated Fernandes from Cornell 6–4, 7–6 (3). Li, Tsoi, Ji, and Oberg lost their matches.

On the final day, the Yale men’s squad took on their archrival, the 12th-ranked Harvard Crimson. The Bulldogs dominated the day, winning three of the four doubles matches. Gogineni and Shuler paired up to take down Peter Privara and Masa Perera 6–3, Tsoi and Gupta defeated Melchior Delloye and Mitchell Lee 7–5 and Liao and Ji beat Valdemar Pape and Elisha Thornton 7–5. Li and Oberg fell 6–3 to Marc Ktiri and James Macdonald.

In the singles portion, Yale continued with their thumping of the Crimson. Gogineni walloped Privara 6–2, 6–1, and yet again, first-years Liao and Gupta continued their undefeated streak, winning 6–1, 6–2, and 6–4, 6–4, respectively. Oberg rounded out the scoring, defeating Macdonald 7–6 (5), 6–7 (3), 10–1. 

After his undefeated weekend beginning his college career, Gupta said, “I think the main takeaway is just how different college tennis is than juniors. Now I am not just playing for myself but rather for the team. Everyone is much better in college. Matches are more mentally and physically challenging, but I have proven to myself this past weekend that I belong in the college setting.”

The men’s team hosts the Yale Invitational next weekend at the Cullman-Heyman Tennis Center from Sept. 27 through Sept. 29. 

The women’s team kicked off their fall season by hosting the Bulldog Invitational, welcoming Rutgers, Boston University and Brown University to New Haven.

On the opening day, Yale took on Rutgers. In singles, Shyla Aggarwal ’27 was victorious, winning 6–4, 6–0. Ann Wright Guerry ’26 won her match 6–1, 7–5, and was followed up by Erin Ha ’27 defeating her opponent 6–3, 6–2. First-year Angela Huang ’28 rounded out the team’s scoring for the day, coming up with a 7–6, 6–3 victory.

The doubles matches for the women’s team, however, were less successful. The pairing of Aggarwal and Jamie Kim ’25 was the sole victor in doubles, winning their match 6–3. The other two Yale pairings were defeated 2–6 and 3–6.

During the second day, the Bulldogs bounced back to take on Boston University despite the windy conditions. Ha and Aggarwal kicked off the day defeating their opponents in doubles 7–5. Rebecca Lynn ’26 and Sophia Zaslow ’26 were also victorious, winning their match 6–3.

Things looked strong on the singles side. Ha defeated her Boston University opponent handily, winning 6–3, 6–2. Huang followed that up by beating her opponent 6–2, 6–4. Lynn crushed her opponent 6–1, 6–0, and Zaslow closed out the scoring, winning her match 6–4, 6–4.

On the final day of the Bulldog Invitational, Yale took on Ivy League rival Brown, winning nine of their ten matches. They kicked off the day by sweeping every doubles match. Guerry and Mirabelle Brettkelly ’25 dominated their opponents, winning 6–3. The duo of Ha and Julia Werdiger ’28 made quick work of their match, winning 6–0. Huang and Aggarwal closed out the doubles portion, defeating their opponents 6–2.

Riding the wave of a strong doubles showing, Aggarwal kicked off the scoring in singles, winning 6–3, 6–1. Brettkelly won her first set 6–0, then completed a great comeback in the second set to win 7–5, winning her match. Werdiger followed that up, easily winning her match 6–1, 6–3. 

In the fourth match, Ha retired due to injury after winning her first set 7–5, resulting in the only win of the day for Brown. Guerry continued her strong start to the season by winning 6–4, 6–4. Lynn lost her first set, then won the next two to claim victory, 3–6, 7–6, 10–8. Huang closed out the last match of the day, winning 7–6, 6–2. 

After a difficult first two days, Yale was able to end the Bulldog Invitational on a very strong note.

“We used the last two days as building blocks from understanding the conditions to defining our strengths and weaknesses right now both on the court and as a team.” Brettkelly told the News. 

The women’s squad has a week off before traveling to New York on Oct. 4 for the Fordham Invitational.