Yale Athletics

This past weekend, the Yale men’s and women’s tennis teams unsuccessfully took on the Princeton Tigers and Penn Quakers. 

On Saturday, the Yale men got off to a blazing start, sweeping the doubles matches. Renaud Lefevre ’25 and Eric Li ’26 defeated Princeton’s Landon Ardila and Ellis Short 6–3. Dylan Tsoi ’27 and Aidan Reilly ’25 teamed up to win a close one over Aleksandar Mitric and Evan Wen 7–6 and secure the doubles point. 

In singles, the Bulldogs were unable to keep their momentum going, winning only one match.  

Back from injury, Vignesh Gogineni ’26 lost a heartbreaker to Top Nidunjianzan, losing in a nail-biting 7–6, 5–7, 7–6 match. Notably, still recovering from his wrist injury, Gogineni played the entire match with his right hand, putting up some impressive one-handed backhands throughout the grueling match. 

“It was super exciting to be back on court one more time this season and play alongside my teammate, Gogineni told the News. “Personally, after not playing in any matches for six weeks, playing with a brace and one hand at singles 2/3 and 1st doubles, I didn’t have any expectations for myself and was just glad to be competing again.” 

Jason Shuler ’27, Reilly and Tsoi all lost in singles, as well. The one bright spot was Edward Liao’s ’28 victory over Landon Ardila 6–2, 8–6. However, with their strong singles showing, the Tigers claimed a 4–2 victory over Yale.

The following day, Yale celebrated their four seniors, while hosting their final home match versus Penn. Walker Oberg ’25, Luke Neal ’25, Reilly and Lefevre were all recognized for their accomplishments and time on the Yale tennis team over the past four years. 

In doubles, Gogineni and Liao got off to a good start by defeating Sanjeev Chundu and Aaron Sandler 6–2. Lefevre and Li lost 6–1, and Tsoi and Reilly fell 8–6 after a great battle. 

After winning the doubles point, Penn continued its strong play by winning three singles matches and securing a 4–1 victory over the Bulldogs. Manfredi Graziani defeated Jim Ji ’27 6–1, 6–3. Shuler fell 2–6, 6–2, 6–4 and Liao lost 6–4, 7–6. 

Gogineni was points away from claiming his first singles win in months, up  4–6, 7–5, 4–2 against Sanjeev Chundu before the match was called. Li claimed the lone Bulldog win when he took down Aaron Sandler, 7–5, 6–4. 

After being ranked just spots outside the ITA Top-30 in the nation in March, the Bulldogs ended their season ranked 60th overall. Before the Elis lost their last eight out of nine matches, they held an impressive 9-4 record. Their nearly thirty-spot plummet in the rankings will cause them to miss the postseason. 

“Although the matches didn’t go the way we wanted, we showed a lot of heart and determination against some talented teams,” Gogineni told the News, reflecting on the tough loss. “I’m really proud of myself and the team for the level and energy we brought for our final weekend of the season.” 

Women on the road

On the women’s side, the Bulldogs traveled down to New Jersey to take on Princeton this past Saturday. In doubles, Yale picked up their sole victory of the day when Jamie Kim ’25 and Shyla Aggarwal ’27 beat Maren Urata and Anna Nguyen 6–4. However, the Tigers won the two other doubles matches to win the doubles point.  

In singles, it was all Princeton, as they quickly won three singles matches to secure the 4–0 victory over Yale— a turn around from the strong season the Bulldogs have otherwise had. 

On Sunday, the Bulldogs traveled south to Philadelphia to play Penn. 

In doubles, Penn won the first two matches and claimed the point. On the singles side, Yale showed signs of life when Aggarwal picked up a 6–1, 7–6 win and Orly Ogilvy ’27 followed up with a convincing 7–5, 6–1 victory. 

Unfortunately, the Quakers found their footing and bounced back with three straight wins, coming out on top of the Bulldogs 4–2. 

The Yale women’s tennis team finishes their season with a winning 12–10 record, including an impressive undefeated home record of 6–0. The team graduates two seniors, Mirabell Brettkelly ’25 and Kim, and due to recent changes within the team’s roster, will have no rising seniors next season. 

Current second years Erin Ha ’27, Aggarwal, Ogilvy, and first years Julia Werdiger ’28 and Angela Huang ’28, will be key in next year’s rebuilding efforts.

Next year, the women’s tennis team will welcome a top-ten ranked recruiting class.