After a solid start to the season, Princeton men’s tennis turned its attention to the Battle of the Bay Classic. Seniors Landon Ardila and Aleksandar Mitric were invited to this highly competitive collegiate tennis tournament from Sept. 30 to Oct. 4 in San Francisco.
Ardila Goes Undefeated in California
The Tigers had a rough start to the season.
In the traditional best of eight single set doubles format, Ardila and Mitric lost their first match to Michigan State’s third seeded duo 8–4. But as the Orange and Black do best, they bounced back with a dominant 6–2 victory over Mississippi State’s doubles pairing, reaching the semifinal round of the doubles consolation draw.
Moving on to the singles, Mitric faced a challenging day. After a close 6–4 loss in set one to TCU’s Kaj Quirijns, he fell in the second set as well. Later in the singles consolation bracket, the senior from Toronto, Canada, split the first two sets with JP Day from UCSB before falling 10–7 in the lengthy match tiebreak.
As for Ardila, he became the star of the show in California.
The Texan, who wasn’t even seeded to begin the tournament, swept through the competition. He won four matches in straight sets, dominantly taking down players from Duke, Georgia, Arizona State, and Pepperdine one by one. Throughout this stretch, he only went to the tiebreak and never lost a set.
Ardila was set to face Mississippi State’s Bryan Hernandez Cortes in the finals before his opponent had to default due to injury. In the end, the Tiger took home the men’s singles title.
Support nonprofit student journalism. Donate to the ‘Prince.’ Donate now »
“I’m really excited to continue playing the highest level players in college,” Ardila told The Daily Princetonian. “The last few years, I was playing lower in the lineup, and now, with some of our great players having graduated, I am just now getting the opportunity to test my game against the highest-level opponents, which is really exciting.”
Tigers Take on ITA Regionals
Ardila and the Tigers couldn’t celebrate for long, as the ITA Regionals quickly approached in mid-October at Penn. This gave them a chance to qualify for the NCAA tournament.
Princeton entered with the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in the tournament, with first-year Simeon Stankovic and Ardila, respectively. Both made it to Day Three in the singles bracket alongside junior Milan Markovits, first-year Alex Luo, sophomore Jordan Reznik, and Mitric who bounced back after the Battle of the Bay Classic. The Princeton double pairings that advanced past Day Two were senior Paul Inchauspe with Ardila, Markovits with Reznik, Stankovic with Mitric and junior Meecah Bigun with Luo.
Despite great performances from all the Tigers, Ardila again shined the brightest.
His tournament didn’t start off great. In the first round, Ardila found himself down 5–1 in the first set against an opponent he was supposed to beat comfortably on paper.
Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered to your doorstep or inbox. Subscribe now »
“I didn’t complain or make excuses and slowly worked my way back in the set, saving set points in style and ended up breaking my opponents serve three times in a row and winning 7–6,” Ardila wrote to the ‘Prince.’ “I think my new mindset and willingness to dig deep and not give up anything for free helped me claw my way back into that match, which was super important in gaining momentum for the rest of the tournament.”
And momentum he gained; after finishing off his first round opponent, he cruised past his next three straight matches. He then faced his toughest opponent yet, Columbia’s third-seeded Damir Zhalgasbay. But after a close 7–5 tiebreaker, the Princeton senior held on with a dominant 6–3 set two win. This victory vaulted Ardila into the NCAA singles tournament that will take place next month in Athens, Ga.
Across the two tournaments, Ardila won twenty straight sets. After losing his entire Ivy League season last spring due to surgery, it is safe to say, he is back.
“He’s always been a player that can be among the best in the country, but his professionalism as far as preparation […] working extra in the gym and his approach to practices have all contributed to more consistency,” Head Coach Billy Pate told the ‘Prince.’ “The sky is the limit for him and I know he is incredibly excited to compete for the NCAA singles title.”
What’s Ahead for the Princeton Men’s Tennis
Just recently, Princeton hosted the Ivy League Championships from Oct. 23–26. In this individual tournament, players from all eight Ivy League men’s tennis programs fought for an automatic bid to the ITA Conference Masters Championships.
Princeton was represented by top seed Stankovic, eighth seed Luo, and unseeded Mitric and first-year Ford McCollum in the singles bracket. On the doubles side, Mitric and Stankovic were the third seeds in doubles with Luo and McCollum unseeded.
In the singles bracket, Stankovic went the furthest, reaching the semifinals before falling to Penn’s Shaurya Bharadwaj. Mitric also did very well, advancing to the quarterfinals before dropping a three-setter to Penn’s Callum Markowitz.
The Tigers weren’t done yet. Stankovic and Mitric paired up for the doubles bracket and found even more success. After making swift work of the first three days of competition, including a dominant win over Penn’s Vojetic Vales and Bharadwaj (8–5) in the semifinals, the international superstar duo made the finals. They were set to face Harvard’s Benjamin Kinces and Nathan Blokhin, but the latter withdrew, making Princeton Ivy League doubles champions and ending a great tournament for the Tigers.
Support nonprofit student journalism. Donate to the ‘Prince.’ Donate now »
Looking ahead, Mitric and Stankovic will play in the ITA Masters which is set to take place Nov. 5–8. This will be the last chance for the Orange and Black to send players to the NCAA Division I individual championships held from Nov. 17–22.
After that, all eyes will be on the spring season.
“We have a strong unit and if we can stay healthy, while continuing to make strides on a day to day basis, we’ll have the best chance to actualize our goals of winning the Ivy, advancing in the NCAA tournament and shooting for a high national ranking,” Pate said. “We’ve spent time in the top 20 nationally the last few years, but our goal is to maintain that level throughout the entire year.”
Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered to your doorstep or inbox. Subscribe now »
Princeton’s star senior Inchauspe is currently sidelined with a health issue. According to Pate, “he should be back soon and I know he is chomping at the bit to get back to full training and competitive matches.” Being ranked No. 2 in the country in the pre-season, Inchauspe is set to be a difference maker in the spring when he gets healthy.
“We have a very high-level team, but with small 1% gains in different areas, which I feel I have made recently, we can easily be competing against the top teams in the country and taking the Ivy League title,” Ardila wrote to the ‘Prince’.
For now, Ardila hopes to keep the momentum going into November. Mitric and Stankovic will likely hope to join him in Georgia, but only time will tell.
Andrew Gavenko is a Sports contributor for the ‘Prince.’
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.