The 10th-ranked Hopkins men’s tennis team split its matches this weekend, defeating Dickinson College’s Red Devils 6-3, but falling to D-I Georgetown 5-2.
Against Dickinson, Hopkins freshmen Justin Kang and David Perez won the first match at second doubles against freshman Shawn Diniz and junior Joey Frank 8-0. The Red Devils came back with a close first doubles victory after their freshmen Clark Chapman and Steven Kaplan beat Blue Jay juniors Edward Corty and Jeff Mackenzie 9-7.
“We had beaten this team before and were up on them early,” Corty said. “We just relaxed a little bit and then they strung together a few good games. Jeff and I weren’t at our best, but we’ve had success in the past and are looking forward to turning it around in the next match.”
The Red Devils then gained the lead after sophomores Evan Davis and Josh Kaseff defeated their Jay counterparts, freshmen Jacob Lin and JP Paris 8-4 at third doubles.
Once the singles matches began, Hopkins started to turn things around as Perez crushed freshman Samuel Loring 6-0, 6-1 at sixth singles. Hopkins then took the lead when senior Jensen Reiter won at second singles 6-1, 6-1. The Jays then went up 4-2 as sophomore Mike Buxbaum defeated Kaplan 6-2, 6-4.
Corty returned after his loss at doubles to play at fifth singles.
“I was eager to get back onto the court because it was my first singles match on the new courts,” Corty said. He went on to earn the Jays yet another victory 6-1, 6-2.
“The guy I was playing had a big serve, so I knew that I could just take short backswings and use his pace,” Corty said. “My serve was working well, and I hit about eight aces so he never had a chance to break me. That made me confident in my whole game for the match.”
Hopkins junior Chris Jou defeated Kaseff 6-2, 6-2 at fourth singles, bringing the Jays’ lead to 6-2. The Red Devils brought the final score to 6-3 after defeating junior Nicholas Garcia at third singles 6-1, 0-6, 1-0 (10).
In their second match of the day, the Jays played two doubles and five singles matches against the D-I Georgetown University Hoyas. Buxbaum and sophomore Emerson Walsh defeated senior John Brosens and sophomore Jordan Portner 6-3, 3-6, 1-0 (8). The Hoyas then tied the score after senior Andrew Dottino and freshman Mac Rechan defeated Kang and Perez 7-6 (4), 1-6, 1-0 (5).
At fifth singles, Georgetown sophomore Jack Murphy defeated Mackenzie 6-1, 6-4. Georgetown’s lead increased to 3-1 after senior Alex Tropiano defeated Hopkins senior Erik Lim 6-2, 6-4 at fourth singles. Junior Daniel Khanin of Georgetown then defeated sophomore Jeremy Dubin 6-2, 7-6 (6). Hopkins senior Noah Jaochim answered with a 6-4, 6-7 (5), 1-0 (5) win over Georgetown freshman Peter Beatty at third singles.
“I can’t say I played my best tennis, but I felt as though I was the smarter player, focusing more on exploiting his weaknesses,” Jaochim said. “My opponent was tall and had a huge forehand and serve, so I chose to draw out the points; [I] made him run from side-to-side to tire him out.”
The Hoyas ultimately prevailed with freshman Marco Lam closing out the match with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Hopkins senior Tanner Brown at second singles.
“Its nice to finally play on our brand new home courts,” Jaochim said. “Hopefully we will bring many wins to the Homewood campus!”
The team overall seems to have a positive outlook on this season.
“This is the best team I have ever been on, and we have a great opportunity to go all the way this year,” Corty said.
